People Watch

#1: Spotted in bus

Name: Alvin

Address: Somewhere near Macpherson

A late twenties man boarded the crowded bus 151 and sat next to me. The seat I was in was quite spacious. However, my bag on my lap took up more space than me so the empty seat beside me seemed quite small. So the man sat. He had with him his haversack and newspaper and started to get uncomfortable. I knew for sure, the seat was too small for him (as men usually require bigger space than women.) He started looking around the bus to see if there are anymore empty seats, or at least one empty seat. When the bus came to a certain stop, many passengers alighted and this was a good chance for him to change seats. Lucky for him, there was a totally empty seat somewhere behind me. I could see his body posture, wanting to move desparately to that seat. However, he hesitated quite long and finally decided to stay put. He tried his best to fit himself nicely in his seat, but failed as the road was too bumpy. After a few minutes, he turned behind and glanced for seats again. I could see that he was really dying to change seat. Indeed, he spotted one. This time, he took his bag and newspaper and was ready to go anytime. After hesitation, he changed his mind again! I began to feel puzzled. He might be feeling awkward to change seat all of a sudden. Finally after looking for seats for the third time, he couldn’t care less, took his belongings and moved.

#2: Spotted in library

Name: Eugene

Address: Serangoon Road

A boy of age about 18 came towards the studying area and sat down. Infront of him was a storybook from the library, his laptop and he began to take out his MP3 player. He started opening the book and stared at it for a one or two minutes without flipping the pages. I could see that he wasn’t reading, instead just staring blankly infront of the book. He was mouthing lyrics from the song he was hearing in his MP3 player and started shaking his head too. After a while, he opened his laptop. I think he was playing some computer games as he was very engrossed in it with his eyes wide open. He began to start whispering the word “shit” several times. I figured he must have lost in the game he was playing. As it is a library and eveyone else was studying, many eyes turned to look at him. However, he didn’t notice them staring and was still very concentrated in his game. While playing his game, his kept shaking his leg. Probably he was getting impatient in the game or it was just his habit. Just then, when he saw a librarian walking towards him, he close his laptop hurriedly, took the library book beside him and pretended to read. The librarian might have noticed him making unnecessary noises just now as she told him to lower his volume as this is a library. He nodded his head and continued reading. After the librarian left, he opened his laptop again and continued his game. This time, he shouted “ah” very loudly. Immediately, the same librarian came back to him and asked him to leave as he was disturbing the others. He apologised, packed his stuff and left the library.

THE CONFLICT
Alvin is seating next to Eugene in the library. He is reading a book while Eugene is playing computer games in his laptop. It is the examination period and everyone else was studying very quietly in the library. Suddenly, Eugene shouts “shit!” This definitely catches Alvin’s attention. He stares at him and asks him to lower his volume. However, Eugene continues shouting. He is probably too engrossed in his game. Feeling annoyed, Alvin stands up with his belongings, stares at Eugene angrily and walks off.