- Oh pretty girl on the platform. I stand near you, and not so abstractly or subtly gander over at you. It can't be helped, you see, because your ribbony head of curls caught my eye as soon as i went through the turnstile. And well, i could dip into my satchel and pull out the trade papers i should probably be studying, but then there you are. Pretty. Curly. You haven't yet shown me your eyes - oh my...you are pretty. Incredibly. Surely, you see me. I'm no more than just a few feet from those two big blue beee-yoots. This isn't a game. I'm merely interested in looking at your visage, the same as if i were to stare so intently at a Van Gogh landscape hanging in the Metropolitan. I want to be near that beauty. I want to just stare and admire. I want to be inspired. To be filled with the joy such beauty imbibes you with, to then turn around, and hold the door for that elderly lady, to offer a pleasant smile to that stranger waiting for the bus near my apartment. I want to be charmed, and hopeful in turn, be charming.
- I do so much walking in this city. There can only be so much entertainment one pursues in the headphones plugged into their ears. I offer to those of you who read these words the opportunity to chime in on whether the next behaviors i describe are creepy or endearing: I'm rushing, late (by my terms, which really means i'm right on time) for an appointment. I weave in and out of the stragglers on the sidewalk. I don't shove anyone. It's all on me. I duck, bend, shift, scoot and bow - all to make my way through a congested alleyway. I look at my watch every few steps. How can it still only be that time? Seriously? Boy, when did minutes go so fast? And then, suddenly, without any hesitation, i stop in my tracks. Ahead, there is a beautiful woman who has stopped to study the tantalizing window display at a dress shop. My steps are methodically slower, angling my approach so that i walk behind her by just a few inches. Right as i'm upon her, i close my eyes, suck in the air around her through my nostrils just so i can sense her perfume. My forward progress carries me a few feet past her, as the remnants of her bouquet pay their last respects upon my nostrils. And then, without hesitation, i resume my hurried march to my appointment, with 100% certainty she has no idea what her lovely perfume has done to lift my day.
6 comments:
i say it's only creepy if she notices that you're inhaling her perfume. since she doesn't notice, it's not creepy. :)
I had a clear image of you in my mind in this delightful little scene and I must say it prompted me to be sure to look my best and not to forget the perfume before I leave the house. I very much like the idea of someone's day being improved by breathing in my scent.
Not creepy. Our inner worlds are our own. Your description lifts MY day. I suspect if we all paused in the presence of beauty, to drink it in through our senses (a beautiful human, a beautiful sky, a beautiful -insert your choice here-) despite the rushiness, we might create a better and better world. Sounds simplistic, I suppose.
Deity,
like persephone said, only if you do the massive lean in and whiff - haha then it would be an invasion of personal space.
I've done much the same - most often I'll find myself standing or walking in public when I get a pleasant olfactory suprise.
Usually it drags me out of whatever reverie or thoughts I'm having, and I look around for the source of it. If I can, I go for another 'taste'.
More of than not, I would stop - excuse myself, and politely enquire what she was wearing. . . then offer my compliments and move on.
Then it lifts both of your days. . .
meg,
inhaling? but what if it just looks like i'm sniffing at her blossom? still creepy?
Vesta,
Definitely improved. This meeting in particular went quite well as a result of this "boost".
Anon,
It does sound simplistic, but perhaps that's what makes it so amazing. If we just paused more and enjoyed the beauty around us, perhaps we wouldn't all be up in arms.
Destructicon,
If i had more time to spare, you can bet i would've given her a compliment. As it was, i was making my arrival even more delayed by my brief, little detour.
I feel smelled. Delightful.
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