Observations on a boring day

The other day I was sitting in a mall selling raffle tickets for the hunting club I’m a member of.

It’s a boring job. Not much to do but sell the odd ticket, read a book, or, in my case, write a book or whatever. This post was the ‘whatever’.

Another way to pass the time is watching the shoppers, and that can be quite entertaining, sometimes even a bit unsettling. It is pleasing when a pretty woman walks by.

I usually look at the way people dress. Some people dress nice, some not so nice. Most men wore jeans or cargo pants. Some pants fit quite nicely; others were baggy and sloppy-looking.

With the women, there was a greater variety. U saw very few skirts. Older women wore long skirts, while younger women wore them quite short. Most young women wore tight-fitting pants or jeans. The ones that puzzled me were the girls and women who wore ripped jeans or jeans with actual holes in them. There was one woman with holes so large her knees were exposed. I felt uncomfortable just looking at her. That can’t feel good having your bare kneecaps getting caught in those holes.

The ones that unsettled me were the women who were covered up from head to toe. I only saw the eyes of one woman; the rest of her was hidden behind loose clothing. I saw men with turbans and scraggly beards.

I realize we live in a so-called free country with religious freedom and freedom of choice, but I still ask myself why these people come to my country. You know—when in Rome to as the Romans do. To me that means dressing like the citizens of the county you have chosen to be your new homeland. If you don’t like that or refuse to accept new customs and laws, stay away! (I’m venting again, but this is a dear subject to me.)

Watching all these foreigners in their outlandish garb creates negative feelings and one cannot help but be prejudiced. Multiculturism, as noble as it seems to be, doesn’t work. Just like having reservations for our native people doesn’t work. We have plenty of problems with them. I hate to be a doomsday preacher, and I hope I’m proved wrong, but this whole thing cannot  and will not end well. It only creates friction and a host of problems. Integration is the only way.

Footwear is another subject. Shoes, sneakers, low boots, high boots, sandals, and even a few tongs. I saw them all. The whole day I sat there, I saw only one guy with red sneakers. I even saw a guy wearing what looked like pajama pants. His sneakers were untied, huge, and sloppy.

Surprisingly, I saw only a handful of people texting while walking. It seems people are finally smartening up...or maybe not. As I wrote this, two women walked toward me, texting; one of them almost walked into my desk.

Quite a few women were pushing baby carriages—big, cumbersome looking contraptions. Whatever happened to those simple carriages we had when our children were babies?

I mentioned boots before. Only two of the women/girls walking by wore boots with high heels. Ahh, the good old days when all the girls wore high heels. It was murder on their feet, but, hey, they looked terribly sexy.

Most people had descent haircuts, men and women alike. Only 2 guys had long, unkempt hair and long, scraggly beards. They must have gotten lost in the wrong part of town.

And what’s with that cloth hanging out of guys’ pockets? Is that for wiping your hands? Or are they possibly auto mechanics? I only saw two of those.

I think it depends on the area how people look and dress. There is a distinction between the people of different areas. Some are just more...how should I say it without sounding snobby and prejudiced...smarter? Classier? More sophisticated? Richer? Poorer? Cleaner? More educated? More ambitious? Lazier? I don’t know, but the fact is there is a class difference, no matter what some people want us to believe.

Another thing I was acutely aware of: Most people were actually slim to a little overweight. I counted only 4 obese people. We were recently in the USA, and I have to say the number of fat and obese people we saw there was alarming. I apologize to my readers from the US, but it is the sad truth. I wrote about that in one of my last blogs. Too much junk food, portions too large and the food too greasy.

It’s amazing the things one sees and learns on a boring day.