People Watching

A Monday night at Nielson. The only empty table on the lower level is to our right, and we are seated and laughing, Marlana (me) across from Matt next to Kine across from Hanna next to me. Matt’s eyes pop up suddenly, and his hand raises to wave. I peak over my shoulder to see his roommate Will walking by, tray in hand. He sits down at that empty table, and in order to get there, he walks completely around our table. “He’s a very focused guy,” Matt says, not at all surprised. I suggest that we stare at Will until he notices. But, this guy sits down, and his eyes never once rise from the Targum. He reads and eats. In ten minutes, he’s finished. Not up for seconds, not up for another drink, not up for coffee and dessert.

“I bet he’ll eat the ravioli first,” Hanna suggests, and thus begins a commentary on Will’s eating habits that lasts as long as he’s eating. He goes for the shrimp first. Matt wonders how he can down everything with just a smoothie, but makes sure to note every time he takes a sip. As he finishes and stands, we chant his name until he turns around. Not at all surprised, he says hello to Matt, to me. I introduce him to Hanna and Kine. As Matt explains our actions, he gets more and more uncomfortable, edging further and further from the table. I take the moment to wonder how many times this kid has been in this situation before. Too wrapped up in his own world, too focused on his food and the Targum to notice he was sitting next to a close friend. All the missed connections, missed moments in his life, when he was so close, yet so far away.

The next day, I talk for a bit with Chaz, a friend of a friend who works at the welcome desk in the student center on College Ave. We talk for a bit about his job and his life, sitting up there at the desk. Here’s a bit of our conversation:

ME: What is your job? What are your duties?

CHAZ: So my job is to answer questions and to try to be as much help as possible to students … we try to help out people and basically try to solve any problems they have when they come into Rutgers.

ME: Do you like it?

CHAZ: Oh I absolutely love it. It’s absolutely wonderful; it’s absolutely rewarding. I get to meet a lot of people and I get to make their days better—or worse if I can’t help them…Hopefully [I] make their days better.

ME: How does people-watching play a role in your job?

CHAZ: Well, I mean if you look at certain people, they come in and look very lost, and you see them and know that you have to approach them. And other people, they seem like they’re walking towards you very briskly or they look very angry, and you have to be prepared to answer their questions in a more curt or more serious manner. And sometimes you just get to look at people and see whether or not they’re having a good day or a bad day or if saying hello to them as they walk in will make them feel better or worse. Or make them stop in their busy lives and realize they’re human. Or if saying “Hello” would be very disturbing to them. You get to see a lot up there, and I guess people watching helps you know how to approach other people at my job at the Welcome Desk.

ME: Who is the most memorable person that you’ve seen?

CHAZ: Every morning we have a mother who I believe is a Rutgers student come in with her little son, and they come in and take a Targum and they sit and they wait for the Ward Shuttle. And the little kid just prances around the Student Center at 8 AM when everyone else is very sleepy. The mother is always sitting there being a mother and then they leave and they take the shuttle to take her kid to school and she goes off to her classes. I think that that’s the most memorable person at my job.

ME: Do you talk to her?

CHAZ: No, I have never talked to her. I feel like she has enough to deal with, with her kid who seems to be a normal happy healthy kid who jumps around… but I feel like this is their time and I don’t really want to disturb it.

ME: What is the most memorable question anybody has asked you?

CHAZ: Sometimes there are funny things. I find it funny when people come into the Student Center and ask me where the Student Center is. Or they give me the address of the Student Center, and ask me for directions of how to get to the Student Center. I always find it very hard to describe exactly how to get where they want to go. I mean they’re already there, but it’s sometimes a challenge.

ME: Have you had any other people-watching moments in your non-Rutgers Student Center Welcome Desk life?

CHAZ: Sometimes in class I like to watch the professors and the TA’s very closely. In my philosophy class I watch the TA’s very closely, because there is one TA who disagrees with absolutely everything the professor says, and I love watching his facial expressions. They’re the most hilarious things in the world. And … there are one or two students who always talk … and the TA’s think what they are saying is absolutely ridiculous. They just give each other these glances, and they’re like “What is this kid saying? This has absolutely no bearing on what’s being discussed right now.”

So, next time one of the kids at the Welcome Desk says “Hello!” or “Good Morning!” maybe you can take a moment out of your busy life to realize you are human and greet Chaz in return.