Interference

Sometimes, it's hard to tune the rest of the world out so that you can really savour an experience. There probably are people out there who can stay focused in the moment without getting distracted by the noises and people who surround them, but I suspect that peace is reserved for the terribly self-absorbed. And they have other issues to deal with. I'm talking about those moments where you'd like to dig into the delicious meal you've just ordered and keep chatting with your dinner companion about the movie you saw last night but just as you are about to say something, your attention is captured by some occurrence at another table. Sometimes, observing the behaviours of others can prove torturous - the distraction pulling you out of your enjoyment and into annoyance. At other times, these diversions provide a voyeuristic form of entertainment.

It's possible I'm just short-tempered and neurotic but I also think there is some truth to my suspicion that some people are just terribly annoying. For example, I'm reading a book on the streetcar when a mother and her child board the car and take the seat behind mine. The mother starts to explain to her daughter why her behaviour that morning was unacceptable. She is speaking very loudly on the quiet streetcar as though this lesson is one that everyone needs to learn, not just her child. Her embarrassed eight-year old starts to whisper her responses but the mother continues to talk loudly, the disciplinary lecture lasting almost the entirety of my ride. While I'd love to go back to my book, the mother's voice, and my sympathy for the child (whose actions have provided her mother with an opportunity to show all of us what a great parent she is) are preventing the words on the page from penetrating the barrier of my distraction.

Last summer, I'm sitting on a patio, enjoying a beer and nachos with some friends when I notice the behaviour at the table in front of me. A man and a woman are dining together, yet the man has spent the bulk of the meal talking on his cell phone in a Slavic language. He's making deals, he's closing and buying and selling. He's obviously very important. When the waitress comes to their table, he does all the ordering, his companion says nothing and defers to him. They are eating lobster. In the few moments where he isn't on the phone, they chat briefly. She does not appear to speak English. At some point, I become convinced that she is a prostitute and he is her pimp. The conversation at our table becomes background while my attention is riveted, looking for additional clues to prove my theory. I share my thoughts with my dinner companions. They laugh. Their lobster barely eaten, the man and woman leave the patio, apparently summoned by one final phone call. We see them ride away on a motorcycle. "She's going to have sex with a fat middle-aged man now" I say as they ride off into the sunset. "Then he could have let her finish her lobster", responds my friend.

I guess it just comes down to the fact that if you live in this world, you have to share it with others: the good, the bad and the ugly. Loud talkers, slow walkers, know-it-alls, high-pitched laughers, all make up the mosaic of living in society. The idea of an island surrounded by a moat might be a nice fantasy. Meals would be uninterrupted, I wouldn't have to commute, I could live in peace with those of my choosing and never have to deal with the interference of strangers. But then whose stories would I invent? Peace and quiet might very well mean boredom. If I have to choose, I'll take all over nothing. But if I can make a suggestion to my fellow citizens, it would be this: Could you please keep it down? I'm trying to read here.