This simple activity gives me 2-fold pleasure -
a) it keeps me entertained while I am waiting (an otherwise boring task, because no-one likes waiting!)
b) it keeps my brain active, so I don't drop off to sleep!
The game is a single player game, but you need to have people around to play.
I'll explain....
The guy who just served your morning coffee, the lady sitting in the Ford truck next to you, the old lady standing at the busstop, the guy standing behind you at the checkout, the children walking home from school - these are all people that we come into contact with.
Unless you are marooned off in a remote island, I know we all come across people as we go about our daily chores and lives. Here's how I entertain myself whenever I'm standing in line, waiting in a queue, stuck in traffic, just waiting.....
I play a little game in my mind and start weaving a story about each person's lives.
- who could they be?
- how old are they?
- where are they from?
- how did they get to be in that place at that time?
- are they married/single/divorced/parents?
and the list goes on....
The thing though is that I sometimes get so engrossed in my thoughts and weaving this perfect storyline, that I start smiling to myself for no reason (remember the crazy lady standing behind you who suddenly burst out into laughter for no reason - possibly me!).
I then carry the game further (if I choose) by taking it home and relaying the story to my family and asking them to fill in the blanks. A complete waste of time, some of you might say, but I see tons of creativity in the exercise!
Try it sometime and let me know what stories you end up with.... Everyone has a story.
Alternatively, you could just read a book, play with your phone, stare at the people ahead of you....but isn't that really boring....?
** Photo courtesy Microsoft.com
Oh this, article really applies to me because I do the same when I am in traffic, dropping the twins off at baseball practise.
ReplyDeleteI play this game too, it gives me fodder for my fiction
ReplyDeleteI play the 'numbers' game. I've been doing it since I was 5. I look out for numbers and divide by 3. I divide everything by 3, looking for the perfect number (keep dividing by 3 until you get to 1). I do it with number plates. I count people, and then divide by 3. I'm obsessed with 3, but hey, I was born on the 3rd day of the 3rd month of the year :-).
ReplyDeleteIf there are only a few things to count, then I multiply by 3, then get reallllllly excited when I get to a large number, cos then I can start dividing by 3 and I KNOW that it'll divide perfectly.... oh, the joys of life :-)
N!!!! It sounds crazy, but knowing you, I know it's stuff like this that keeps your brain razor-sharp! I couldn't slip a one-liner past you, even if I tried!
ReplyDelete