I’m sitting at a table in a restaurant. The restaurant is at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International. I sip a tall cold beer from a tall cold glass. I reflect as I sip. Hundreds walk through the busy concourse. I note the variety and the diversity of the individuals in the fast moving crowd. Some are tall and slender like I used to be. I’m still tall. I’m not slender anymore. I can thank these long tall cold ones for that. I hesitate before I take another sip.

I continue to watch the fast moving crowd. I continue to observe the diversity and the variety. I note different hairstyles. Some styles are long and straight. Some are long, black and curly like mine used to be. My hair is straight with a few tints of gray now. Just a few tints. Very few. When I go to the drugstore with my wife, I always end up in the “hair dye” aisle. That’s funny because I’m usually following her. The same thing happens when I’m following my nieces through the drugstores. I wonder if they are trying to tell me something?

I continue to reflect as I watch the diversity and the variety of the individuals in the fast moving crowd. What if we all were tall and lanky? What if we all bore long straight hair.? What if we all were one color? What if we all wore the same suit of the same fabric? What if we all walked at the same speed? Just how boring or just how odd would my people watching be.

I finish my long tall beer. I look at the gentleman seated to my right. He’s having a soda. I look at the lady seated to my left. She’s having an iced tea. Sweetened (We are in Georgia, you know). What if we all had the same taste? I pick up my backpack and sling it over my shoulder. I walk to my gate. It is time to board. I’m glad to watch and not be bored. I fully appreciate a world of diversity and variety.