An Observation or Two

There are some times and places wherein you're guaranteed to either get a scowl or smile directed right at you. It doesn't really matter who you are or what you've done; you're never deserving of the nasty look or instead, the kind acknowledgment of your presence. There will simply be a situation where you will accidentally make eye contact with a stranger, and that stranger can choose to frown or smile at you. I was thinking about when you can expect a frown and when you can expect a smile. I think most of you will agree with what I determined:

The grocery store on a late Sunday afternoon



Now, here in the central campus area, this may not be true, but for the most part, a supermarket that's packed full of hasty errand-runners, with babies in tow, is also packed full of some mean stares. But can you blame these frantic grocery shoppers? They've got a lot of stuff to do and work starts tomorrow! Argh! Just be careful, people have powerful shopping carts they can accidentally ram into you if you give them cause to.

The post office and the bank



When you're waiting in line to send off a package or deposit a check (though, folks, it's just as easy to drop it in an ATM!) -- your fellow line-waiters will probably be very friendly. There's only one reason I can figure this to be true, because the odds really are stacked against their happiness. They're not only waiting in line, but it's not like they're about to see a movie or something -- they're just doing everyday errands.

So my guess is that they choose to make the best of the situation and find that it's more entertaining to chit-chat with each other than to exchange ugly looks. Also, I think everybody hates whoever they are to greet at the end of the line. For some reason, we all tend to band against that person, as if they are the reason the line is so long -- when in fact, they are the reason the line isn't as long as it would have been if they weren't there to take care of business. Basically, whenever there is a common enemy, people unite. This probably happens at the grocery store, too, after people have already gathered up all their goods and are eagerly anticipating putting them on the mini-treadmill. Hopefully they don't end up in line behind someone who they accidentally rammed with a shopping cart though.

The bus and the airport

The bus and the airport really are crossroads between cultures... even more so than a bank or post office. It's a mixed bag of emotions here, as one unhappy or happy person can set the mood for everybody else. If there's a babbling homeless guy who everybody is amused by, the whole bus will give each other grins, as in saying "yeah, I think the babbling homeless guy is strange too, haha!" Etc. Same goes for the airport. Is there an annoying business guy yapping on his cell phone or a cute little 2-year-old galloping around?

The first day of class

Everybody feels refreshed on the first day of class -- whether in middle school or college. Lots of people smile at me when it's the first day, especially those strangers just walking past, almost as though they expect we'll become best friends throughout the school year, despite the fact that UT has over 50,000 students and I'll probably never see them again.

The 30th or so day of class

After the novelty wears off and people become lost in their own brains, reviewing the stuff they have to know for their chemistry test on their way to class, those smiles are few and far between. I wouldn't say people are overtly mean, but the difference between the first day (or week, really) of class and any day after that is pretty interesting. But how can you expect someone to take the effort to smile? They're way too busy!

Football games, movies, plays, and other entertainment you have to buy tickets to...

Surprisingly, when people are venturing out of their homes to have fun, they tend to treat strangers as, well, strangers -- people their mother told them not to talk to, etc. I think it's because people come to these events (a movie, stage musical, carnival, whatever) with a posse, a group of family members or friends, and thus they instantly separate themselves from everybody else. They can afford to. They're not needy of an ally. There are plenty of exceptions to this, of course, but I think putting a bunch of individual strangers into one room makes for a much nicer environment than putting three different groups of friends into one room.

I'd go on, but I have to read for my next class. I wonder how many smiles I'll get while I'm out and about on campus today?