Balconies

A balcony is always a strategic position. There are tremendous things to see from any balcony specially those that overlook the neighborhood or a part of it, a street or another balcony. Who of us hasn't spent an hour or so on a balcony just observing passersby and acting as an omniscient God? You would be amazed at the funny, sad, and alarming scenes you might witness. Just pray you wouldn't be the witness of someone throwing himself from the roof and staring at you for just a second before jumping. As I move a lot of houses and jobs, I had the chance of standing on quite a number of balconies, not to mention the balconies you visit once or twice or just from time to time. One of those balconies overlooks an empty yard or sort of an unused garage. There, I once saw two young boys playing virtual football. They had drawn a net in pink on the wall, written next to it "the Verdun international football Court" and played football without a ball. I saw them running after an unseen ball and shouting at one another for losing it in the out. Another time, I saw a maid hiding things I couldn't recognize under a plant and watering it afterwards. She would then get inside again and then come back after a while to bury something else under that same plant. She was so at ease and assured that no one could see her that she was dancing and laughing while watering the plant. I wandered what scheme she had in mind. I can write a book about scenes from a balcony and how people act when they think no one can see them. The balcony of my office where I work now overlooks a peeing garden. Well, it wasn't a garden before it was used for peeing purposes. Men peeing in a public area surrounded by buildings all act the same. They would unzip their pants then look around to see if anyone is watching, and whether they see you or not, they still go ahead, turn their backs and pee anyway. When done, they again turn around to see if anyone had watched them. Why do they look around if they were going to pee anyway? It is amazing what people do when they know that where they are they cannot be recognized by their names or who they are but only as a part of the human species.