We have all been here. Stuck sitting somewhere like a captive and unable to leave for some reason. I have spent a great deal of time in my life waiting—we all have. We seem to wait everywhere: Airports, trains, doctor offices, the DMV and so on…and that list does go on and on. Admittedly I am a people-watcher and on some level I consider this a spectator sport. I simply find ways to entertain myself so I play games.

My first game is "What were they thinking when they left the house this morning?" Yes, people do wear PJ's as well as leather to the grocery store and school events. In the midst of summer bathing suits are everywhere except to a beach or pool, and odd things such as boots and a mini dress (on a guy) always tend to make me giggle. The whole “buttloaf trend” cracks me up (no pun intended) and that is an article all to itself. (See article: Look there is a Buttloaf!)

In California not much surprises me anymore but it is interesting what I see. This game is much like my “Pick out the tourist” game which I play all the time. “Socks with sandals” is the eternal “Why?” we all shrug over. How many different prints can one person layer on another? Last week I saw a man with white ankle books circa 1960’s also wearing a Magnum PI Hawaiian shirt and military green shorts. Perhaps this game needs another file for “Did they get dressed out of a donation bin?” My grandmother would turn in her grave knowing all the fashion blunders I see every day.

A game I play when stuck in one room full of people is "If we were stuck here and could not leave, who would freak out first?" which then leads me to a separate part of that game which is, "Who is most likely to hook up here and who will be left as the odd man out?" This always leads to another one of my favorites, "If that person and this person had a kid they would look like that person over there." You are smiling—you have done this too.

My husband and I play games together in public too. Our games are usually “What do you think they do for a living?” or “Let’s do voice-overs for that couple over there” which can be entertaining. We also play who in this room would be voted “Most likely to _____” and “Guess who does not have all their original equipment.” While my husband is proudly famous for pointing out “new improved” perky women, I am an expert on spotting rugs. Yep—they never fool me. I seriously prefer bald men…it is the “new naked” and I love it. Toss those rugs men---you don’t need them!

While I am not opposed to staring and thinking bizarre things about adults I am also not opposed to including kids in my games. Kids are fabulous and love to play along. We play “What kind of pet do we think they have?” and “If they were an animal what would they be?” My daughter loves to play, ”Guess what they had for dinner” because she is famous for wearing hers all over her shirt, even now at 16 she manages to continue this trend much to my dismay.

I of course play games on my kids too. My favorite one is called “Stink face.” This comes in handy if you happen to have a pouter, and it has been known to immediately cure pouting at any age. When one of my kids would pout in public (they all do—even yours) I usually say, “OMG—you have Stink face!” And then we all put on “stink faces” and of course the original pouter cannot keep pouting because it eliminates the power of pouting by diluting it. We all laugh and game over---Mom won and the pouter lost.

While in most of these games nobody ever wins, my intent is never to actually make fun of anyone. I try very hard not to point and laugh but life does have its moments when that is necessary and even needed, Games like these develop a silly way of paying attention, noticing details, and observing the human condition. I laugh at myself all the time. My kids point and laugh at me all the time. I always win the “Where is Waldo” contest because I practice every day.

Life is too short to sit and stew over having to wait somewhere---look at things differently---Let the games begin!

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