Eyes wide open

Today was a good day of people watching. First thing in the morning on the way to work, a lady in a bright green pair of mountaineering boots, big socks and a short flowery dress walked off the tube at my stop. I own a pair of those boots too and they take some breaking into. Didn't quite think stereotypically fashion conscious Londoners would do that, even ones that love the mountain and we know there's another stereotype there as well. The thing is even though they are great mountain boots, walking on flat, paved terrain in them is not fun. The sole is fairly solid- a bit like ski boots- but the lack of flexion means you basically rock forwards or backwards and its a rather funny gait, particularly when its not observed in its normal context.

On the way home I saw a guy who had plaited his beard into two pigtails. Enough said.

Sex in the City

It is inevitable that one would over-hear conversations while on public transport. They may not be interesting but some of them can be amusing. One such conversation I overheard on a train coming back to London from Canterbury.

I can't quite remember where they got on the train but I do remember them getting on as they both had very fancy dresses on and were beautifully turned out. One got the impression that they had just been to a garden party but it would transpire from the conversation that followed that they had been to the movies. Possibly after a garden party, one never knows for sure, but I suspect that the dress code was in honour of the movie that they had been to see which was 'Sex in the City II'. I haven't seen the movie yet and am not sure about the content but the two of them were very impressed with it except for a few parts which were a but disappointing but largely it was a great movie and they should take their mums to watch it when they go a second time. The two girls talked about the characters in the movie as if they were their acquaintances and talked about how they found some of the actions taken in the movie to be funny/so her/so him/disappointing/outrageous, etc. The blur between fiction and reality was rather impressive and slightly worrying, if I were honest. Its good that what was being portrayed in the movie was realistic enough for people to identify with their own lives but I couldn't help but wonder how much of it was the opposite way round- that real life was being modelled on fiction. I say that because the dressing up was a bit over the top and the way they talked was a bit over the top and most people are not like that. I wonder if that's how they are on a daily basis?

It was amusing listening to their account of the movie- events that happened in their own lives to their friends as far as they were concerned- but it left me wondering how many people now mimic fiction in their real life. Is this indulgence in escapism going to take over 'normal' life?