Going to town

Tie man - shoe off, tie tie too long, absent minded reading, twirl hair. Teenagers - girls/boys, open versus facade. Carl Bildt. Kim at Gate One. "Kaxiga" lingonberry-policemen. Nice lady on the bus. This is how my notepad looked after spending a day in the city. :-) It does make me feel good to get out of the house and watch people. It's even better when there's a healthy mix of interaction involved too.

So what was all that then?
Well, Tobias and I took the train to town and we were sitting indirectly opposite this neatly dressed man who I suddenly noted had his left shoe off and a tie wrapped around his thigh. He was trying to make a tie-knot. His motions were slow, as if he wasn't at all certain how to make one. After several attempts he was satisfied and took it off his leg, only to discover the noose was too small to pass over his glasses. He didn't widen it but instead he forced it down across his face so his glasses came off. Hm... Anyway, he got the tie in place, straightened the collar and ended up looking rather respectable apart from the fact that the tie was so long it reached down far below his crotch (even when standing up). X-) Once he was done with the tie, he put his left shoe on again. I'm impressed he thought of that, I can easily imagine men forgetting the part where they have to take the tied tie off their leg.
He continued his journey towards town with reading a notepad (handwritten stuff, not a laptop) in a very absent minded looking way, every other second he was looking out through the window instead and every so often he started twirling his hair between his fingers (much like my friend Å used to do in school). I kind of recognised this behavior and imagined he was going to some more or less important meeting where he was going to speak about whatever his notes were about.
I like creating these "imagined life stories" about other people. I also have to shamefully admit I like watching people. I try to be discrete though! X-)

This is what I like about people, they make me think and reflect on the nature of things and in the best case they make me think of my own life and all that's involved. Although, to write something on here about all the things I noted during my city-visit would take too much space and time (who'd have the energy to read all the way through it anyway?).

But to cover it all quickly:
Teenagers - girls/boys, open versus facade = Again I watched groups of teenagers doing teenagey stuff. How stereotypical everything is, I think it's sad but I guess it's how we make it.

Carl Bildt = I actually met the man in person when walking from Gamla Stan to Drottninggatan, just as he walked across the bridge towards the government building.

Kim at Gate One = A very nice and understanding pregnant lady who promised S and I could return the pair of jeans I purchased there even though it's several months ago.

"Kaxiga" lingonberry-policemen = Three security guards handling a group of teenagers who probably had done something silly. The guards were definitely "in the personal space" of one of the teenagers.

Nice lady on the bus = She sat next to Tobias and I and was very talkative (four almost grown up children, lived in our neighborhood since the early eighties, husband from Umeå...).

I like going out like yesterday and yet I'm SO fond of just staying in in my jammies all day...