People Watching

Ever heard the saying “he/she’s a strange cookie that one”? This saying has been repeated many times around my ears and a few times by my own mouth. I confess it to be one of my favorite sayings. My family’s big on people watching. Sometimes it can be better or more entertaining than movies or books because really truth is stranger than fiction. Tell me, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you see this:



I know. Poor baby, right? I admit, the picture is relatively cute, but what about the baby? He/she’s shoved in a pot! Won’t that get uncomfortable after a while? As for the parent, it’s probably much easier to carry the little lobster around like a baby; dealing with the placement of the handles on the pot and how low it’s being carried is going to make for a crazy backache later on. Still, the picture is just a little cute.

We like to look at instances like this and many more just to see the wackiness of it all, and usually we try to figure out what was going through that person's mind when they did that to themselves.



Yeah, still can’t figure that one out.

We like to do this most with celebrities. Lady Gaga, anyone?



She's got quite the taste. I don’t understand half of it, but it gives us something to talk about.

This is where the danger comes in. See, there’s a difference between observing and judging. Observing has always been the fun part for me. It blows my mind some of the things that people do. Not judging can be difficult. We can look at Lady Gaga and call her a wacko or say she’s got a few loose screws, but that’s not really okay. When observing, equality is maintained. Judging leads to marking a superior difference and condemning the “lesser” difference.

This is where that “strange cookie” saying comes in. There are a lot of different types of cookies, such raisin, chocolate chip, oatmeal, and peanut butter just to name a few. There are those who prefer chocolate chip cookies and those who prefer raisin cookies. Just because I’m not particularly fond of raisin cookies doesn’t make that cookie any less good; it just means I will not be partaking in that particular snack.

Still, even with the cookies it can be difficult to stay impartial when people watching. The best anecdote until you’ve mastered yourself is to just keep silent. “If you don’t have something nice to say, just don’t say anything at all.”


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Photo of lobster baby found at:

Grey, Neha. "Ten Weird Outfits for Babies." Divine Caroline. Real Girls Media Network, Inc. Web. 6 Dec. 2011.

Photo of man with rat haircut found at:

"Rat tail haircut." Photograph. Safa.Tv. Safa.Tv, 25 Jan. 2010. Web. 6 Dec. 2011.

Photo of Lady Gaga found at:

"Lady Gaga." Photograph. GraziaDaily.co.uk. Bauer Consumer Media, 12 Aug. 2009. Web. 6 Dec. 2011.