observing the social creature

..."always carry a diary with you-you never know what you'll stumble across that could feed your creative juices...." 
Those words came back to me today in full force, if not only for the fact that I had to write key words down on an old university Aroma Cafe loyalty card...Sitting opposite around me, at least 25 people on mobile phones. A young man sitting opposite secretly taking photos of us all sitting on the opposite wall, and casting sidelong glances our way (until he noticed me frowning and staring nastily at him...) A 20 something woman who did not look up from her phone in two full hours, and was constantly harangued by her about four year old, whose last drastic attempt to get her attention was to pick his nose and place his finger in his mouth, with "Mummy, Mummy, look at me - look at me...look at meeeee!!!" on loop.Two middle aged Bikies with bifocals - one reading Take 5 the other engrossed in Woman's Day. Noticing the slow deterioration of patience, person by person...the jittery movements, the occasional grumpy remark, the groans when people thought it was their turn ("we should be next...!) I likened it to three hours of a deeply fascinating kind of torture. Three hours fairly well spent, I'd say.