Street Watching

One of my shop down time activities is watching the homeless and psych patients out on a day pass walk up and down the street.
To those driving through town they seem like your everyday garden variety people. When one sits in one place for a while and one sees who is not just passing through.
I am 2 doors north of a Coffee Time and I now know how many times most of them pop in for a chat, coffee or a cool down.
This summer I have figured out who does not have air conditioning at their house. I see them trudging down the street clothing akimbo, sweating buckets. Then again, cooled down, in better spirits walking back home.
Then there is the Scooter brigade. For some reason mostly older ladies (I say older but they could be my age) zipping between the subsidized apartment block and the Coffee Time or the corner store. Yes there are men on scooters too but they do not travel in groups like the women do. I wonder why?

From the same high rise comes the woman who does not have a motorized chair and huffs and puffs her way up the hill at lease 2 times a day to get a coffee and donut....She works so hard...and compared to the scooter people must be in excellent shape. When I first saw her 3 years ago I really wanted to go out and give her a push but now I know that the trek is part of her routine and she doesn't want help.
Occasionally one of the ambulatory street people pop in to see what I'm all about. Some to chat very occasionally. None are scary... lonely and occasionally smelly but not scary.

I long to ask about their lives and discover their inner thoughts.

But I let them keep their inner workings private as they let me do so too.