I love people.

I’m a true flâneur- a people watcher, an observer. I like to drink it all in. This can be a good and a bad thing. Overly observant people can find themselves easily annoyed at something you’re observing obsessively. For me, my down fall is noise. I can hear Denver gulping down a bowl of cereal when I'm 20 yards away. It's annoying for all parties, but it isn't just family that I put under the microscope.

Take the lady next to me in the locker room today. Every move she made was accompanied by a loud moan or a groan. Taking off her socks, “Aaaaah!” Reaching into her gym bag, “Gaaaah!” It didn’t look like she had been working out hard or anything- no signs of sweat. It’s like she thought groaning and grunting would make it seem like she had a tougher work out then was actually the case.

Who are these people who make noises to themselves? You know who I’m talking about. Take the deep sigher in line behind you at the coffee shop. Is that their way of engaging conversation, a deep sigh? I think I prefer the genuinely rude person who just blurts out, “Could you hurry up with those cappuccinos???” These noisemakers are all over town these days, in the midst of the holiday season everyone has a “tsk” and a “grr” up their sleeve somewhere.

And then there are the mumblers. These are the people who are less passive aggressive than the noisemakers but not quite confident enough to be 100% all-out rude. Back to the coffee line, there was fella behind me at Starbucks who would not let up about the prices for the coffee and all the fancy drinks (um, where have you been buddy?). He kept on mumbling to himself, “All I want is a drip coffee, I just want coffee, what do I need to do get some plain old coffee, how much do they want for this coffee, this is ridiculous.” He had no patience for the chick ordering the no-whip, half-calf, soy, sugar-free latte. At first, you think maybe this guy is on a cell phone or with a friend but then you realize he’s just nuts and looking for someone to commiserate with- not it fella.

Is it any wonder that everyone is wearing an ipod these days?