People Watching

On my way home from Vegas! Hurrah! I'm not a big city hustle and bustle kind of person - too much farm girl in my veins.

More characters from my people watching excursions. Last night I walked along the Strip and observed. I wonder how many of the crowd were natives and how many tourists. Years ago my younger sister lived in Vegas and told me that the natives don't come to the Strip unless they work there. But surely . . . not even for a show???

I passed an elderly Asian woman with her silver hair in a punk style with patches of pink. She was dressed entirely in pink, including her pink translucent walking cane. Tottering along in front of Treasure Island, she smiled as if in her advanced years she knew something the rest of us didn't, something special for her pleasure only.

I'm waiting in the airport now with a family seated behind me in the waiting area. Mom, Dad and two kids one of whom is obviously newly diagnosed with diabetes. The parents' conversation focuses on how many carbs in the pizza the kids want and how best to handle the injection the child will soon need. And can they have ice cream during their layover in Phoenix.

People at the slot machines - I wonder why they never look like they're having fun? No smiles. No expression of pleasure in their eyes. Just staring and repetitive motion as they insert coins and watch the wheels spin around.

Plenty of time to people watch. In our zeal for a direct flight, my co-worker and I ended up with an almost seven hour wait between the end of our conference and the flight home. What were we thinking?!

I'm here trying to tune out the incessant click and hum and chiming of slot machines enough to write. He's wandering the airport shops and most likely trying to figure out how to have just one more cigarette before he has to pass into the no-smoking zone.

But yet another people watching interruption. Another traveler desperate to connect with something other than the airport activity asking to borrow my power chord. Dead electronics are never any fun but especially in an airport waiting area.

What's the point of my ramblings today? I'm procrastinating with writing but, unlike my procrastination habits at home, today I have nothing else to do.

Back to writing.