Art of People Watching

Found Poetry in Unlikely Places

From the Post Office Line
February 5, 2013

Woman wearing sunglasses—indoors—and tights covered in palm trees
with a heavy-looking brown coat with fur trim

People in front of me talking Algorithms, and
someone else wearing an Amelia Earhart hat

1, 2, 3, 15 people in line

The woman behind the desk shouts: “anyone just dropping stuff off?”
and those who nod yes are directed to the front

I wish they’d scream, “anyone budgeted their time poorly?”

Person after person who clearly hasn’t rehearsed
his speech and request as I have make it to the front of the desk

Stamps. Tax refunds. Confusion.

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Failing, Learning, & Getting Stuck in Jacket-Coats at 25

Day 252: August 20

You failed.

You set out to learn something new each day of your twenty-fifth year, recording the details for the world to know (even though no one asked for this information), and you didn’t do it. Well, I should say, you didn’t record the details as you promised, it’s clear, even if only to you, that you’ve done the learning part.

But you failed to report it. To name it. To translate it into a takeable, buzzfeed-like list. And this bothers you. You think you can still do it. You think that this failure somehow matters to a larger audience. You’re thinking, yes, but…

Yes, but I can still piece it together.

Yes, but I can look at my instagram, my twitter, my facebook, and my email.

Yes, but I can get the details together. I can finish this project. I can catch up on over 200 days of living and learning and wrap it all up in the next 100.

Yes, but why?

Seriously, Dude. What’s your deal here? What is it you’re really learning from the day-to-day operations of your quiet, albeit lovely, life that the world needs to know?

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