Everyday on my commute to town I have a lot of opportunities to "people watch." Considering I am in the Jeep for the better part of an hour and a half every day I am able to observe a lot of different behaviors while sitting behind the steering wheel of my old Jeep. For the past several weeks I have been paying particular attention to the many young children I see either riding in the family vehicle with one or both of their parents on the way to school or sitting in their lofty perch inside a bright yellow school bus while on its morning route.
It is my observation that there are two distinctly different types of children. Those that sit back in the seat and watch the world coming at them through the windshield as they move along their planned route to school and then, there is the other type. They sit with their face almost touching the side window of their vehicle, peering out the glass, watching as they pass the sites along the way. Considering my vast experience in the psychological and psychiatric fields--I have none in either field--my theory is probably very lame but, here it is.
I think the two distinct types of kids are, simply put, those who are content to watch and casually experience the world coming at them and those that don't want to miss a thing as they barrel headlong into the future. I am making no judgement here. I think there is a place for every personality type in our great big world. In fact, it is probably the differences that keep us on track as we go spinning around the sun.
Content to Move Casually Down Life's Road...
From my vantage point behind the wheel of my Jeep, I watch as children, from as young as three or four to as old as 15 or 16, ride by in cars, SUVs, pickup trucks and school buses, not to mention the occasional van. The docile ones are resting comfortably, relaxing along the way as the driver of their vehicle delivers them to their destination. They are involved in deep conversations about math and English, who "likes" who and what may or may not be on the lunch menu today. They don't bother to look from side to side because they know exactly what is along their way. They have been down this path scores of times and there is no need to look at everything again. Content that life is as it should be, today is no different and they move quietly through this day just like they do everyday, waiting for whatever is coming their way.
Living Life to the Limit, Embracing Every Day...
And then, there is the other type. The type that I was and maybe still am. The kid who sits up in the seat, stretching their seat belt to its maximum length, with his face glued to the side window so he can see everything along the way to where ever it is they are going. Once at this destination he knows others are waiting to there to compare notes on their travels and he wants to be ready for the ensuing discussions. It is almost like he has never been this way before when in fact, he has been this way scores of times, but the scenery is always changing and if he rests he knows he will surely miss something important as he passes it along the road to school. It is almost like he is studying his surroundings so he can give a detailed report at the "debriefing" that will inevitably take place when he gets to school. That kid, the one plastered to his window as his transporting vehicle passes me in the morning isn't about to miss a thing. Nope, he is living life to the limit and if he could he would jump out of that car and join in the fun he is watching. If I had to guess these children are a little difficult to awaken on school mornings, but are wide awake by sunrise on weekends. They move slowly and mope and complain about being tired, but once the door opens and they move into the great outdoors and they realize the whole world is waiting for them, they embrace the day and take it on with gusto. The world is theirs and they are not going to miss a second of the fun it has to offer.
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