Observation....

They say people watching can be interesting and I have often being interested in the human aspect of people watching. I don't purposely eavesdrop on conversations but I do pick up hearing conversations mainly because of the work I do in my career.  Yesterday late afternoon, I was having something to eat at a road stall prior to a work survey when I saw a group of school going girls in a table having a gala time speaking and in loud voices too. Mind you, these are 14 year olds having a meal together at their regular place and speaking over a range of subjects. Of course, the notable topics were about boys and money. There were six of them - the boisterous, the quiet, the timid, the die hard follower, the talker and the "couldn't care less". This is how I would identify them. The boisterous was a big size 14 year old and she talks real loud. Her topic of conversation was centred of her own "clever" ways to do this and that and of course, how she could get money off her parents. A show off, they would say in our world and she boasts a lot. The "couldn't care less" was a pint size girl who would just cut through the conversation of the boisterous and questioned everything she says. There would be a lot of back and forth banter between these two while the talker would generally side the boisterous. The quiet stands quietly at the end of the table holding her books close to her bosom and listening to every conversation without making a comment. She would neither talk nor take part in any of the conversation but stood stoically at the edge of the table. I could see that she was a friend of the talker as she would make sign through her facial expressions to the talker as the talker say her piece.

The timid would be be eating her meal quietly as she nods her head once in a while. She would not say a word but would occasionally tried to ease the conversation by asking both the boisterous and the couldn't care less to tone it down. The die hard follower is a friend to the boisterous one. The die hard follower would ask the couldn't care less to listen to the boisterous as she is speaking. The die hard follower was a bespectacled girl and she seemed to enjoy everything that was said by the boisterous one. The boisterous one seemed to be happy with the die hard follower. 

As I was seated at the edge of table on the other side, I just ate my tau kee and fishball meal while sipping nicely my soyabean & cincau combo concoction of  deliciousness. My ears were opened as the conversations were heated up at the other end. It was mainly about who was going to pay for  the bill of the meal which cost them RM 26.50. The boisterous one immediately said that she wasn't going to pay it as she was invited to have something to eat by the die hard follower. The couldn't care less ridiculed the boisterous one by saying that if she was so good in getting money from her parents and all that, why isn't she paying for the meal. The talker says that everyone should chipped in and pay for the meal while the timid is of the view that everyone should pay their own meal. The quiet just stood there quietly and said nothing as she did not have any drinks nor food. In the end, the die hard follower whipped out three RM 10.00 notes and handed it over the the proprietor of the stall. She told everyone to chill out and that she would pay for the meal as she had the money for it. She explained that she was paid recently for helping her parents do some cleaning work in a mall. Everyone asked her if it was okay for her to pay when they all seemed to understand why she had to work with her parents. The quiet one finally spoke up that they should all pay for their own meals and it would be shameful to ask the die hard follower to pay when they , as friends, should know of her financial situation. There was a moment of silence and the timid one reinforced that each should pay their own meal. All of them then forked out the cash and paid the die hard follower for what she had paid out to the proprietor of the stall.

All of a sudden, the talker and the quiet got away from everyone , bid them goodbye and ran towards a Panorama bus at a very tight curve of the road. Daredevils are what I would call them - they jumped across a drain, the bus door opens, they jumped aboard, waved and that's it - they are off! The boisterous then bid everyone good bye as she picked up her bag and walked towards the bus stand. The couldn't care less, the timid and the die hard follower were left at the stall, obviously waiting for someone from the family to pick them up. The couldn't care less said that she would be walking home as her house is nearby while the timid says that her parents would come by after work to pick her. The die hard follower told her friends that her parents would pick her up and then go for some cleaning works later in the evening. By this time, I had finished my meal and savoring the last drop of the soyabean & cincau combo drink. 

I did not know what to make out of the little drama that was unfolded. Well, each to their own interpretation , really.......To me, personally, I see six silly girls who should be concentrating in their studies, work hard  and quit messing up their parents lives as they still have a lot to learn in life. What do you say?