I go to the park almost every day with Lydia. I walk a mile and a half. (I know, it’s not much, but it’s something!) Then we play on the playground. She loves it. She loves the swings, the slide, the sandbox and even the stairs. It’s also fun for me because I love to people watch. I love to hear them talk and see them react with their kids. At 10 in the morning, you can bet there are mostly sahm’s at the park. So, it’s intriguing to see other people with my same “job”.
But the other thing I like about this park is the diversity. You see all nationalities, all walks of life and all types of families. I love hearing different accents and wondering where people are from, why they’ve moved here and how they might be different or similar to me. I could people watch all day!
Today I saw a Hawaiian grandmother and mom with her preschool daughter and son. I’m guessing they were Hawaiian. I noticed the grandmother first because she looked like she was from one of the islands. Then I noticed her shirt said, Kaua’i. Plus, the little girl’s sandals had Dora wearing a hula skirt. So, obviously, she was Hawaiian.
There was a perfectly manicured, perfectly coiffed, perfectly put together young mom with her equally perfect white and pink lace daughter and dainty little obedient dog.
We played in the sandbox with a mom, teenage son and a one year old from some Easter European country.
Also, an older grandmother (in her late 60’s at least) was there with her 2 year old grandson. (Maybe they were greats and not grands?)
Then I saw an older black woman playing ball with 2 little white girls.
I heard two moms talking loudly about the weather differences between Montreal and Atlanta as they pushed their kids on the swings. (Their accents gave it away, they were NOT from Atlanta!)
I saw a little Indian boy run up to a white family as they came in the park and handed the little boy his Spiderman pencil case. (Why he had that at a park, I don’t know!)
There was even an Asian dad sitting in the picnic shelter watching his baby sleep in the stroller.
It’s fascinating to me because this is the park I went to as a little kid. Of course some of these people could have grown up in Atlanta just like me, but most of them were not from the southern United States. The story-teller/lover in me wants to know what they are doing so far from home. What’s their story?
Where do you people-watch?
