© 2009 Marica

017 – Invisible

I’m not a creature of habit – well, that is what I like to convince myself.

Lately I’ve noticed that I walk exactly the same route every morning between the car park and my office. As I have intentionally tried to slow down my pace, in an effort to be more aware of what is going on around me, I’ve started to see certain things along this walk that I would previously have ignored as I rushed to get to my destination.

Along this short walk I pass four cafes. This is not unusual – Wellingtonians are after all serious (and I do mean hard core serious) coffee drinkers. You’ll find a cafe in some of the most unlikely nooks and crannies, patronised by anybody and everybody. As you walk past these cafes they are never empty. What surprises me the most is how these cafes have become substitute offices of choice. You don’t meet at someone’s workplace, you meet at a cafe. It is fairly typical to see deals being done, decisions being made, all sorts of plotting and scheming taking place. The tables become covered in papers and you’d swear it was someone’s desk. You’ll find people studying or reading. I love the buzz. It is so vibrant.

I have also started to notice that people are choosing to sit outside on the pavement tables a lot more so this is another sign that spring is here – yeah!

For a few weeks now, as I walk past one cafe in particular, I always see two empty coffee cups sitting on the round metal pavement table. One red chair is positioned on either side of the table. It always feels like the two people are still there, only they’re not.

Who are these invisible people? Are they really the creatures of habit that they appear to be? What do they do? Where do they go? I have so  many questions.

Walking to and from work every day I see so many invisible people. They don’t look happy in their own skin. It is as though people are present but they have left their bodies and a robot has taken over. No one talks to anyone. No one smiles. No one looks happy. Their energy is so negative that I feel tired just looking at them. Everyone is always rushing, except for the two people having coffee. I get the impression that this is their special time. They enjoy doing this and it is how they choose to start their day. Now, that doesn’t sound too bad to me at all.

Manifesto
29. Every day eat, drink, rest, work, exercise, play, love, create for your own good. And the good of others.
31. Every day mend bridges, bury hatchets, say sorry and move on.
39. Every day trust that there is a bigger picture. You are a part of it even if you may not know what it is.

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17 Sep This entry was written by Marica, posted on September 17, 2009 at 11:48 pm, filed under eating out, seeing, Wellington, work and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

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