people watching

I'm eating lunch in the mall
so far I've pissed off
a guy on a laptop
by sitting across from him
in the crowded seating area
and he got up in a huff
like he'd staked a claim
over the whole fucking booth
and I'd overthrown his peace

There's a white guy
at the next table over
dressed in a wool trench coat
over a button up shirt
long pants and boots
he has a collection of
classic literature
with clearance tags
clearly visible

He looks like a cross between
a Mormon
and a Christian National terrorist
and I want to say I like
his selection of books
but I also don't want to die
because anyone who can read
and enjoy Gulliver's Travels
as an adult
is more than a little unhinged
and who the hell wears a wool trench coat
on an Australian summer day

There's two teenage girls
dressed up as Alex and Steve
from Minecraft

They make me smile
and I get up and and ask if I can
take a pic to show my 5 year old
who's also a wicked Minecraft fan

I walk around and wonder
if all the middle aged women
have been to a shoe symposium
because I can tell who's over 50
just by looking at what's on their feet

There's teenage mums
and twenty something guys
with their shirts off
there's goth girls
and emo boys

There's a lady in a wheel chair
carting around a bottle of oxygen
and scary looking security
wandering all over the place

And I wonder what another people watcher
would see when they look at me