People Watching in the Classroom

This is the first day of six that I'm spending on the campus of Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. The study includes a class in bioethics and the annual Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity conference. There are 17 students and we're in a large classroom that's set up for 80.

What's interesting is how you can tell those who are new grad students who just got their bachelor's degrees and are young and eager from those who are older and maybe not as eager. My key to knowing the difference? The young ones are sitting in the first row right next to each other while the "more experienced" ones are further back in the classroom with at least one empty seat between each other.

Well, after listening to student introductions, it appears that four students are actually undergrad students doing a dual degree. Ambitious, they are. :)

Updated: July 15, 2013

People Watching at the Airport

So today's musing doesn't come while driving, but while I'm sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to depart.

Most people I know like to arrive at the airport at late as possible. On the other hand, I love to get to the airport as early as I can. For example, I arrived at my departure gate 90 minutes prior to pushback time, and I love it! This has given me time to eat a snack, check and see if I need additional snacks, check the latest magazine covers to see if there's anything interesting, and write this post.

Another reason I really like getting to my gate early is that I get to do some people-watching. This is one of my favorite activities, it always has been. I don't want to meet anyone, I just want to watch them and imagine stories about where they are going, what their relationships to their apparent companions are, and just observe human nature when people don't really think they're being watched.

For example: here are three businessmen ending their trip and heading home, trying to avoid talking shop but eventually falling into that familiar topic; there is a group of teenagers, mostly girls, who look like they're just starting their journey when they suddenly get up and depart en masse because they're apparently at the wrong gate; there's a single businesswoman checking her emails on her smartphone and now finishing her dinner here in the gate area; here comes a tired airline employee straightening her uniform while looking out the window before getting ready to take care of my flight--can't really be that bad today because there aren't any flight delays.

All of this is made even more enjoyable because I have a beautiful view of the active runway and can see planes landing and taking off in the background. regardless of what most people think, air travel is still romantic for those of us who love airplanes and airports (which are really cities within cities).

So today's musing is: be careful what you do and say in public, you never who is watching you.