people watching

I watch as people file into the dentist office 
The little boy with the "first time" nervous smile 
The old man with the look like he had been there many times before
The young woman with the reddish face that looked almost like she had been crying
And the old lady with the irritated scowl
I look at their faces 
And wonder 
What their stories are
The tall kid with the black hoodie 
The impatient old guy, who kept getting phone calls from the same person
Apparently this was taking longer than he had wanted
I sit here 
And imagine the highs and lows of their days
The things that made them smile 
Or frown 
I watch the receptionist 
And listen to her answer calls 
Happy to help, she says
I'll get right on it
I'm very sorry, 
All these things
She says but doesn't mean
I can hear it in her voice 
See it on her face
She's exhausted, 
And probably sick of the too happy music playing from the speakers above her
I watch small children grip their parent's hands tightly when their names are called
And teens roll their eyes when their parents tell them to be good for the dentist 
I watch mother and daughter argue over a phone
Father and son talk about video games
I observe people's socks 
There were light blue ones, with roosters and tiny barns 
Solid black ones
Mismatched hot pink and polka dotted 
Peoples hair 
Short 
Long 
Pinned back
Curly 
Strait
Covered with hats 
And styled into spikes
A rainbow of colors 
I watch all these people 
And picture them pulling those socks on
Shoving that hat on their head
Slipping into their high heels 
Pulling that sweater on over their T-shirt
Smiling proudly as they look in the mirror 
Shaking as they wipe tears off their face
I think about what I did today
similar things I guess 
I got out of bed 
led by my stomach 
yanked on a rather drab outfit
blinked blurry eyed at the mirror 
trying to fix my unruly hair
after giving up on that I stumbled down the stairs 
into the kitchen to eat I don't know what
and now here I am 
hours later 
(just as hungry) 
back in my kitchen 
ready to start it all over again