It occurs to me that I’m expected to be surprised by things that don’t… and it happens frequently.

I observe, but really don’t react negatively (or positively) to items of minor change. Stuff like someone at work (or a cab driver I see frequently) shaving their head after having a full head of hair, maybe even long hair, hippie style. Folks confuse my lack of comment on things like that for a lack of awareness of same. Truth be told, I’m likely to think the person who shaves their head completely might be undergoing some sort of chemo-therapy or whatnot, and I don’t want to be the 50,000th person to comment on it to them… likewise, if they did it to get attention, I don’t want to feed that characteristic about them that drives a person to shave one’s head. (for example). The same can be said for drastic weight gain/loss, a new car, or some other change in the environment. I usually don’t bring it up (unless the person is a dear friend, Like Danny, for example) when someone just looks different. I figure folks just do things for a change, and they’ll let me know. Is it vanity that causes them to be upset when I don’t mention something I’ve seen?

This goes against my normally very inquisitive nature. (Inquisitive… nothing. I’m nosey.) I love to tally facts, figures, and other little tidbits of knowledge about everyone I see.. not to an OCD level… but close. I couldn’t tell you a person’s lisence plate number, but I could tell you the color of their eyes after talking to them once. I wonder how many folks could reliably describe a person to a police artist? describe the clothes they were wearing an hour after seeing them? I note that kind of stuff.

That’s part of why I like polls so much. I want to know things… silly stuff, form what handedness you are or your middle name, to more general things like what makes you remember a person happily, or what irrational acts can make a person angry. I am, as I’ve said before… a pod person. I know my motivations are similar to yours, but they’re certainly not identical. I think that the environment I grew up in promoted observation, adaptation and a general sense of being… I’m not sure how different that is from the norm.

It strikes me as odd that many people don’t observe the world around them, generally. So many people don’t go out for walks in the park, or people-watch, or even read a book regularly. I don’t understand that… Do they just watch TV, sleep and get up in the morning to repeat the process? Is that stimulating to them, or have they grown to accept looking at a beige wall with a blank mind as a way of life? Don’t get me wrong, I watch well more than my fair share of TV, getting comfort from old shows, cartoons, documentaries, comedy. Sitcoms are mostly lost on me, as is reality television.

I wonder what percentage of people able too have bothered to look at the moon this year, or a blade of grass, or looked at another person and actually wondered what made them tick, (not for the purposes of using them… just to know how they think).

I look at people, and wish that there was a way of looking inside them and see how they think. I think in images, and feelings… the aforementioned Dan has told me that he thinks in more concrete terms, actual words in his head. Aside from the how…I want to know the why, too. Why is dark green one of my favorite colors? I don’t know… it’s a soothing thing for me.. but I have know idea what process makes it so. I’d love to be able to rewind my head… look back, and find out if there’s a reason back when I was much smaller than I am now for it. Why are my tastes in food different than Dale’s? we both have similar tongues… shouldn’t everyone like oh, I don’t know… chocolate covered raisins? Why do some folks like ’em, and other folks not? Same goes for music… clothing, the list goes on and on. How does culture change taste? How much is random?

Just pondering… was going to write some fiction, but instead just decided to say what was on my mind at the moment.