Wednesday Watcher

Did I ever mention that I LOVE when I have to work downtown? Not only for the change of scenery, and the time away from my cube in Hoffman, but I love watching people as I ride the train and walk to work.
What I saw today….

1. Saw a moron run in FRONT of the oncoming train at the Hanover Park station, as everyone on the platform GASPED and a few said “You idiot!” Even the conductor blared the horn, which could have actually caused him to be scared and fall, thus resulting in a nice view for all of us. Either way, the guy cut it really close.

2. This woman on the train was picking, no scratch that, DIGGING in her ear on the train, and when she was done, she looked at her finger and had this look of bewilderment. Almost like she was thinking to herself “What the HELL did I just pull out of my ear?!” Kinda gross.

3. The woman sitting next to me was sleeping like she had taken about 4 of the white sleeping pills. It was like as soon as she sat down, she was snoring. She was sleeping with her head on a bag against the window, mouth wide open and snoring quietly. The funny thing was when she woke up; she looked like someone smacked the side of her face with a meat tenderizer. She must have been sleeping on the zipper of the bag.

4. Again, the "homeless" people begging for money. I don’t want to say they are homeless, because I think they are all scammers and live a normal life behind that “act”. I say this because the guy I saw today was not 100% honest. Yeah he looked dirty, had on ragged clothes and holes in his shoes complete with the sign that said something like this:

“Thanks to Bush, I am no longer employed and have to sleep
out on the sidewalk and beg for money in order to eat”

Not verbatim, but close. All of that was good, but he forgot ONE little thing in his little scam….he forgot to take off his diamond earrings (at least a karat in each ear) and you could see his nice gold watch peaking out from under his coat. Nice try buddy.

5. Why do people have to get up and stand a whole stop before we get to Union Station? For those that don’t ride the train, it’s like this….
The last stop before Union Station on my route is Western Ave. Well when that stops, people get up and stand by the doors so they are ready when we get into the station, which is about 5 minutes more. When I say people, I don’t mean a few, it is more like 20-30.
Seriously, are they THAT excited to get to work? Or maybe running late? If so, why not take an earlier train. I am not complaining, just observing.

6. Lastly…was reading the paper of the guy in front of me, and saw this headline:

“Polish your manicure”

Now, this may be dumb, but the girl in the article looked Polish. Made me wonder what context the headline was written in… Was it implying Polish people are good at manicures? Or was it just saying to polish, or make brighter, your manicure? Then I got to thinking…..

What other words are spelled the same, but are pronounced and defined differently? Hmmmmmm………..

polish - adj : of or relating to Poland or its people or culture; "Polish sausage" [syn: Polish] n 1: the property of being smooth and shiny [syn: gloss, glossiness, burnish] 2: a highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality

These are my daily thoughts for Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Think about them and discuss amongst yourselves.