Saturday, June 06, 2009

The Nosey Eyes See All


Yesterday I found myself in a doctors’ waiting room.

I carried someone there which meant I spent the whole time sitting watching people and reading. Watching people without being watched is easy, if you are invisible like me.

A mother came in with three kids. The oldest was a son that looked to be about 14 or 15. He had a baseball cap on and wore a baseball jersey. The middle kid was a girl, probably about 12 who wore fashion jeans with a rip exposing a knee. The youngest kid was a boy about 7 who appeared to be trying to look like his older brother. He had a baseball cap on also, with the bill curved a certain way.

The mother’s mother was there also. In fact, the whole purpose of their trip was the mother’s mother. The mother went to the examination room with her mother when her mother was called.

I noticed all three kids just stared into space. They had no expression at all. They just looked into nothing with no apparent thoughts in their heads. They certainly were not communicating with each other.

After a while their mother came out to check on them and as soon as she sat down with them all three of them warmed up, smiled… each child’s face metamorphosed itself into a warm witty smiling face, like they each wanted to share a little private joke with their mother…. Which she sat a few minutes and listened to them then went back to where her mother was.

When the mother left, so did their expressions.

3 comments:

Carolyn said...

"When the mother left, so did their expressions."

I found that kind of refreshing in a way. My nosey eyes have seen the opposite of that most of the time; the kids usually get their expressions back after the mother leaves the room. And sometimes they ain't pretty.

kenju said...

I have to agree with Carolyn.

Eddie said...

Carolyn & Judy,

I know what you mean. However, there is something else to consider: Is each sibling bored with each his or or sibling? And are all three competing for their mother's attention.