Childhood Observation

It was a ferociously gloomy day in the heart of Center City. The time of the observation was from 11:43 am to 12:43pm. Sandwiched between 15th street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard is the Philadelphia 's Municipal Services Building and within the plaza of the building lies Board Game Park. Even in the rain, the park was festive. Upon arriving, it began to drizzle. The drizzle was light enough for me to sit by a statue that was composed of multiple bodies piled on top of one another. The noises heard ranged from rain dropping, to horns honking to people laughing or shouting. In the surrounding area of the Board Game Park is Love Park with its remarkable LOVE sculpture and fountain, which was spewing pink water in support of Breast Cancer Awareness

The man was in his early 50s, was either Asian or Latino, and was a part of the lower socioeconomic class. He was dressed in thick layers of brown and black clothing. The clothing was dingy, dirty, and barely wearable. He had multiple items piled on one another. His face and hair were dirty and oily and his smell was pungent. Asides from his clothing, the man had two bags that were filled with bottles. The man seemed furious that it was raining and kept on mumbling things to himself. I was observing the man closely because I had seen him in the area before. The rain became harder and harder and as it did, the man kept moving back to avoid getting wetter. The rain continued to pour down harder for around 10 minutes and as soon it stopped the man began to make his way out of the plaza. The man scurried down 15th street towards the shopping

The ones that I mentioned within this essay were people who stood out to me merely because of their body languages and style. There are many things that make us unique and by singling out a person by how they act in the rain, is extremely distinctive because some people like the rain and others despise it. Looking at people from both groups gives you a grasp on how different one person is from another. This observation paper was an eye opening experience. I usually prefer writing papers either about myself, someone I know on a personal level, or about a book. This paper was an experience that I have never encountered before and I feel like it pushed me to be a better writer. When I was first assigned this essay, I was disappointed because I did not want to observe anybody, especially for an hour. As I began to narrow down places to look, places like the Fairmount Park area near Sedgley Avenue came to mind, as well as the 30th street station. I originally planned on observing at the 15th street station due to its closeness to my house, but instead decided to observe at the Board Game Park which is located very close by. The many times that I have been in that area, I have seen very peculiar people. I scope people out, but never truly observe them, especially for an hour. With the hour of observing I came away with the thought that I truly don’t know how these people are. I am merely just drawing conclusions