“Whose Mother is She?”

I’m not sure whether I am overly curious or just nosey; probably a whole lot of both.  Lately I have noticed that people are so involved in their own little world that they rarely take the time to look up or even look you in the face.  It’s as though everyone has somewhere to go and they don’t want anybody to obstruct their agenda in the least bit.  Not even long enough to give you a smile or simply notice and acknowledge you as a human being.  Today at lunchtime I walked down a very popular street in the downtown area of my city.  I watched people talking on their phones, riding their bikes, walking alone and talking or texting, and some people actually talking to each other.  However, the majority of the people were in their own little world, oblivious of anyone else other than themselves.

As I was headed back to my destination, I noticed an elderly lady who was cursing someone out.  When I walked pass her I assumed that she was talking on her phone.  To my surprise there was no phone, or an ear piece to signify that she was having a conversation with someone.  After realizing that she was obviously in some type of confused state, I looked around to see if maybe someone was coming out of a store nearby to join her.  No one showed up.  We continued to walk in the same direction, while she continued to talk to this imaginary person.  Occasionally I would look back hoping someone would notice her and attempt to determine what was wrong.  Numerous people walked pass her, but no one noticed the lady with the black jacket that had “Jets” written on the back, carrying a pocketbook, and talking to herself extremely loud.  At one point she turned around and headed back in the opposite direction.  That’s when I decided to do something.  I asked someone on the street, “What is the non-emergency number for “911?”  They did not know, but tried to use “voice” on their phone to call the police, with no success.  They wanted to move on, and suggested that I go ahead and call 911 and let them know.  So I did.  I spent about ten minutes on the phone with 911, while following this lady until they got her description and location and promised to send someone out.  That was somebody’s mother, grandmother, or maybe wife.  I don’t know.  What I do know is, we need to be more observant of our surroundings and less focused on getting to the next stop.  That could have been me or your mother.