"You'll
never know me
And I'll
never know you
But you'll
be so happy
When they
call you up"
- Wallet, Regina Spektor
You know what I like about getting a 0730 to
1600 job? The routine. Some people might say that a routine is boring and
perhaps it is, in fact caught on a different day I might even say so. But the
thing is I know nothing about routines really, well except from went I went to
school. I’ve always had a job that required me to work in the weekends or from
1000 to 2300 or where I would be woken up at five asking if I could meet at 7, different cities etc. Every day or week would be different. So for the first time I
get up in the mornings at the exact same time and I go home from work at the
exact same time. And you know what I have discovered, which I think is quite beautiful
if I may say so? I have discovered the routines of other people. Every day at
around 0550 I walk by an old woman sweeping the sidewalk outside of her place with the kind of broom they use in Harry Potter. Maybe it's even a Nimbus 2000.
A few times a week around the same time as the woman is sweeping the sidewalk I
see an old man out jogging. I wait for the tram with the same people and I’ve
learnt where people get on and off and even made up stories in my head of what
I think they might work with. Everyday there is a man wearing an Aegon cap. He
always sits with his eyes closed and gets off at Rzymowskiego. Then there is
this girl who always gets off at Domaniewska. I imagine she is working at one
of the medical centres or maybe a kindergarten.
I find it quite interesting that without even
thinking about it you know something about strangers and their lives. In some way
a tiny part of our lives are intertwined in that moment; in the ride we share together. I know it probably
sounds crazy, but it’s true. It’s just like when I go to my local Carrefour
Express the guy, whose English is not so good, always looks at me and then look at
a bag, because he knows I need a bag. And they guy where I eat my lunch knows
that every day I’ll be there asking what todays special is, so I don’t even ask
anymore; he just tells me! So without even thinking about it they know about my
routines and what I am going to say to them. I think it's quite personal.
By observing you can learn so much about
peoples’ lives without even knowing their names.
And that’s my thoughts on this Tuesday evening.
Dobranoc!
This is brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI really like your sense humour, laughted out loud twice reading this.