Assumptions

'Excuse me, how do I know if one of these have an outlet... I mean the electric socket' a man sitting in my train back to Birmingham on Wednesday evening asked the lady sitting opposite me. He said excuse me with a bit of loud voice which got everyone's (including me) attention immediately. They way it sounded, It almost felt like he was going to say something confrontational but it wasn't. Sometimes we make assumptions 'without knowing the full story' or even just by looking at someone. The lady said, 'Errrm by looking' (lol) then she tapped on the table in front of her and said, 'it's normally on the seats with the tables like this'. I think the man who asked the question was from America (I assumed from his accent). Not only do they talk differently in America, they phrase questions differently too. But this British lady shot him down straight away by answering his question the way it was phrased (she could be a comedian or may be that's the best she could think off). Off course he would've known that he could tell by looking at each seat if there was a power socket. That just made me laugh.

This morning while my train was approaching at the platform, a young lad walked right next to me so I looked at him. He said, "is thisa (that's how it sounded) one to Birmingham International" (lol). No excuse me or any thing, straight to the point. He said that while looking at the train, but I knew he was talking to me because he was very close to me. I assumed he lacked confidence (using my body language observational skills) which is why he wasn't looking at me when talking. I smiled and nodded (non verbally because he was looking at me then). So he stood opposite me by the door of the train. For a minute it looked like he was going to try and jump on before me. But when the door opened, he waited for me to get on first. But I assumed in that time that he lacked some manners which was proven wrong.

Whenever we travel long distances in a car with kids, to keep them entertained we play certain games like 'I spy', 'granny went to the market' etc. The girl sitting opposite me in the train on Thursday morning reminded me of the time when my niece (who's all grown up now) was in a car with her mother and some ladies and they were playing 'I spy'. They were all dressed up because they were going to a wedding. She must've been about 6 then and she said 'I spy with my little eyes something beginning with FE'. No one could tell what it was and then she said the answer 'fake eyelashes'..lol. The ladies that had them on were kind of embarrassed. I think it could be for 2 reasons, a. They must've thought no one would be able to tell they had them on (assumption) and b. They must've assmed how can a child that age tell they're not natural (their assumption that was proven wrong) . Trust me they can..

This girl sitting opposite me also had some long fake eye lashes and I assume she was going to work. I like when people make an effort to look good but I feel the effort of sticking fake eyelashes everyday is a bit much. I understand when they're going to parties they may want to look exceptional. But this was a normal weekday and she was going to work. I think we need to accept that we naturally look acceptable too, we don't need any filters when taking selfies and extra make up to look good. I'm sure if she went to work without the heavy makeup and the eye lashes they may not 'RECOGNISE' her but she'll still be allowed in the office and she'd still look good. That's my assumption anyway. May be her assumption is the opposite of mine.

The whole platform was free on Thursday morning when I was getting the DLR from bank station, but there was a man who kept walking towards me and still wanted to stand right next to me. I moved away from him but he shifted closer to me again. He looked like he was really tired and was struggling to stay awake and keep his eyes open. Only he knows the full story but that's what I thought. Because he couldn't keep his eyes open, that could be why he didn't realise that the whole platform was empty. Or he just liked to be close to me. I felt like saying to him, "I'm sorry you feel that way".

This is one of the phrases you can use in a lot of situations but it's most amusing when said with a flat tone and no feeling behind it. But surprisingly it has the same effect as if you said it like you meant it. You can literally say that to anyone in any situation. I've been trying to say it as many times as I can in a day and so far my highest usage record is 'about 10 - 12 times'.

I like this quote.. "Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in." (Isaac Asimov - who was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University).

If I've hurt anyone's feelings with what I wrote in the blog today, "I'm sorry you feel that way".

Have a great weekend
Adeel