Watching

The thing that's been missing for the last year is the ability to do some real people watching. Perhaps it's an introvert thing but I find great entertainment in sitting in one spot all while people do their own people thing in front of me.

One of the best places to get my "watch" on is the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD. From a park bench perch, it's easy to see a little bit of everything if you hang out long enough. 

Since March of last year, it's been hard to find the place and time to see people in groups. Group activities aren't a thing in the midst of a pandemic so a good old-fashioned people-watching session has been somewhat elusive...until I found myself at a local airport on Friday night.

I have flown one other time in the past year. That was back in August when the airport crowds were non-existent. Back then I walked up to security to find not. one. other. person. What a shock!

A year after the shutdown I noted a small uptick in people at the airport. While there were only three other people ahead of me at security there were quite a few more people milling around the other side of the security barrier.

Yes, there was a line of people at Chick-fil-a. There was a long line of people queuing up to get on their flight to Fort Myers. Another line formed at Chipotle.

Unlike when I flew in August the gate areas were somewhat crowded. I found a small bench above the gate area on the concourse. I think it belonged to a restaurant that wasn't open at the time. The nice thing was that no one was anywhere near me and I had the perfect view of all the comings and goings of everyone else.

In case you're wondering...people are still wearing pajama pants out in public, kids in strollers are still crying and sleeping as their parents roll them at a clip through public spaces, siblings are still poking at one another in hopes of starting something, and people like me are still sitting back watching it all happen.