Out Of The Office pt. 2

As I've been spending a few days out of the office working on a project, I've continued to take notice of people and conversations around me. I'm finding this a good study in 'life as we know it'. Food for thought, for us all, I hope. Here's part two of what might be three or four.

I noticed that a man sitting a table away from me was nervously surveying the room. At one point we made eye contact and he said, "Excuse me. Your name isn't Dan, is it?" I said no and he returned to searching the room. Eventually a man walked over and introduced himself, "You must be Mark? I'm Dan." The two settled down to the table and within just a few minutes I determined that this was a job interview taking place. Mark had sent a resume to Dan and this was a first face-to-face meeting. The conversation went on for a long time. I picked up pieces from time to time. Mark appeared to have a depthy knowledge of the systems applications Dan and his company were desiring to run. During a personal moment, Mark relayed that he and his wife were expecting their first child any day. I also picked up enough to know that he had recently been laid off from his previous employment. When the meeting was over Dan left. Mark stayed on a few minutes and called his wife on his cell phone. "I think it went well. I'll have to wait and see. If he doesn't call me by Friday, I'll call him back." Then a pause, followed by Mark's assurance, "I know sweetheart. It will be okay."

A young lady that worked in the coffee shop came and sat down at the table immediately next to me. It was one of those moments when you wonder what people are thinking. There are 20 some open tables in here and this person sits practically on top of me. My mind quickly flashed to the old Candid Camera type experiments where they would see if people would sit next to someone who smelled, or next to couples having an argument, or whatever. Then I just figured, 'I'm so good looking, and magnetic of personality, maybe it's just me.' (Relax. That was a joke!) Anyhow, she was enjoying her break by reading a book: Dr. Laura Schlesinger's Bad Childhood; Good Life. I couldn't help but consider that title, and grieve a little that there must have been something in her past that drew her to that title. She was someone's daughter. Then I thought about my most important role - that of being a father to four young ladies.

The most trying of my eavesdropping and people-watching experiences these last few days involved what seemed to me to be a Mom and her teenage daughter who came in, took seats next to my table, and appeared to be waiting for someone. The Mom's cell phone rang and I overheard, 'You're in line?' She strained to look across the room (as did I), and there, with one of those phones attached to his ear, was a man waving to her. The two moved to join the man in line. They all reappeared at the table, lunch in hand, and the man still talking on his phone. As the three of them ate lunch I noticed that every conversation that started was interrupted as the man received another call. I couldn't hear the phone ring - the way I knew he switched from conversation with his wife and daughter to a phone call was that he raised his voice and began to emote with his arms when it was the cell. He'd literally turn away from the table conversation and hold up a finger, as if to say, 'One minute'. As I said, this happened continually during their lunch. I could sense growing frustration in the man's daughter with every call. The man's wife seemed used to it. She simply obeyed (that's my word, and a harsh one, but that's how it struck me) his every 'One minute' sign. When they finished their lunch, Mom and daughter got up to leave and Dad once again took a call. He gave a wave and a thumbs up sign to his daughter. She left without so much as waving.

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