There are times that I’m surrounded by so many goings on.  People here and there.  Talking.  Watching.  Thinking out loud and rather than make small talk and join in conversations that are outside my interest I tend to find a way to make quiet.  To muffle the sounds or buffer the interaction that, at the moment, I am not looking for.

It’s waiting room mentality and everyone deals with it in their own way.  But waiting rooms are everywhere even if they aren’t contained by four walls.

in a doctor’s office
for an appointment
while your kid is in class
at the bus stop
watching wash at the laundromat
in a bar
on the train

We wait.

Sometimes we wait in the same place time after time and get to know the scene.  Get to know our fellow waiters.  Find situational ways to pass the time.

make friends
develop fascinations
chat with strangers
read a book
message on the phone
knit a scarf
put in headphones and let the music blare to drown out the world

I write.

I’ve always written.  Not just to write, but also to pass the time.  And to keep others at bay.  It’s not that I think the world is full of horrible people that aren’t worth my time, it’s that I want to keep this part of my world to myself.  Private.  Quiet.  Mine.  So I sit silent.