Writing Prompt: A View From Others

Think about a time you were in public. Describe yourself from the point of view of someone else.

“Oh, Oscar, don’t look now, but I think someone got stood up,” Viv chuckles as she takes a sip of her cocktail. The bar is pretty active tonight, but it was no surprise for a Saturday. Most of the usuals were lingering around, but Viv just happened to notice one girl sitting by herself. Oscar starts to glance over his shoulder. “I said don’t look now!” Viv about smacks him. “She’ll know we’re talking about her.”

“Doesn’t look like she’s too interested in what’s going on around her.” Oscar shrugs and turns back toward his food. “She’s probably just waiting on her friends to arrive.”

“She’s been waiting for over thirty minutes.” Viv huffs and looks back at the girl. Poor thing was sitting by herself at a table for six. Menus and chips were laid out and the girl’s drink was just glass of water. “She looks like she just got off work.” Viv eyes the girl’s outfit up and down and huffs again. “Who wears that anyway? Burgundy scrub pants, a ragged, gray, work shirt, and is that a purple ball cap? Who wears purple ball caps? Not to mention those boots are hardly flattering.”

“It’s her work uniform.” Oscar gives Viv a light scowl. “She probably just got off and didn’t want to change before she came out. Why are you being so judgmental?”

Viv shrugs. “I just feel bad for her. Her friends obviously stood her up.”

“You don’t know that.” Oscar sighs and steals a glance over his shoulder. “She looks perfectly content to me. Whether her friends show up or not, I don’t think her night is wasted.”

Viv frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Look at what she’s doing. She’s writing in a journal or something. To me, it looks like she’s getting something done and enjoying herself.”

Viv shakes her head. “Enjoying herself without her friends? I would be embarrassed.”

“We’ll she’s clearly not you, Viv.” Oscar rolls his eyes. “Some people just enjoy their alone time and she looks like one of them. Look, I bet she hasn’t looked around once since she got here. Has she?” By Viv’s off-glance scowl, Oscar knew he was right. “She probably wouldn’t care if she found out you were judging her. She’s doing what she likes, so leave her alone. Besides, what’s it say about you for putting her down like that?”

Viv let’s out a long sigh. “I guess you’re right. I’ll leave her alone.” She looks at the girl one more time, but catches sight of two other girls heading over to her. “I guess her friends didn’t stand her up. She’s saved from embarrassment now.”

Oscar turns around to follow Viv’s gaze and he chuckles. The girl in the purple hat greeted her two friends, but then went right back to writing in her journal. “Heh, I don’t think embarrassment ever crossed her mind.”