New Thoughts

I was in the union today sitting down and having lunch. I soon found myself people watching, observing the behavior and tendencies of my fellow piers. I realized something while I sat there watching everyone mingling during prime time lunch hour. Maybe it was because I was oblivious to it before or just never really paid attention but our campus really does have the tendency to segregate itself. I do not think it is a bad thing at all but it gave me a different impression on how young adults our age first seek out friendships. I feel that most people seek to befriend and feel more comfortable with strangers who look, talk, and dress similar to themselves before they proceed to get to know the person further. I do not think this is a prejudice just more of a tendency that also find myself doing. When I thought about the elementary school here in Tucson, I remembered seeing all the kids playing together and a definite lack of racial segregation. I then thought about in high school and also in college as I stared though the clean window that students tend to be more segregated by their race, socioeconomic status, and outward appearance because they feel insecure with unfamiliar people and feel vulnerable out of their familiar comfort zone and environment.
Eleven minutes had passed and my sandwich was finally brought to the cushioned table and my drink already was in dire need of a refill. I gazed out the window wondering whether I should get up to satiate my thirst instead of lazily stare at an empty cup and noticed something again I never really noticed before. It was very interesting watching people walk the hallway. Everyone was walking on the right side of the hallway as they passed one another. This pattern of walking behavior made me wonder if it was because we are conditioned to drive on the right hand side of the road in order for traffic to function. I then wondered if it was a comfort thing again, knowing which side to walk on to avoid bumping into people you might not just want to bump into. My sandwich was missing and I was happy I wasn’t dining with everyone because the soggy mayonnaised lettuce kept clinging onto my chin as if it didn’t want to be eaten and I am pretty sure the army pepper shaken in excess on my turkey waged a war in my teeth which I could only remove with floss when I got home. The sandwich could have been enjoyed more if I had not been distracted by the outside traffic of people hustling by and my own homework that sat half done next to empty cup.
The couple next to me had finished their meal and got up from their seats leaving the newspaper. I tried to think about the last time I had read the news and it was when I had realized how easy it is to be disconnected with the world.