OBSERVATION 8 – THE ONE WITH NO CHILL
I am usually a patient person. At bus-stops and train stations I always stand to the right and allow other people off first. If I miss a train I am happy to wait for the next one, even if it costs me a few missed minutes of class. And today was no exception, but it struck me odd that the other people around me, specifically this man standing in front of me, weren’t as kind to others. He jumped right through the doorway, giving no regard for the people who had been lining up outside on the platform for the last half an hour. He went straight in for a seat and sat down, dumping his belongings on the empty space next to him. The train wasn’t particularly crowded that day, but on any other occasion what he did would have been considerably rude. I took a seat directly in front of this man, which I don’t think he took too kindly to, but it was called public transport for a reason, and if he had any problems with the situations he was free to move as he pleased. He stayed there in his seat, and after the initial awkward eye contact one usually makes with the person less than a metre in front of them, he proceeded to look down at his feet and rigorously bite his nails. I was shocked by his ability to comfortably do something that most people only do in their own privacy in such a public place, but that wore off quick into disgust. The disgust wasn’t towards what he was doing, but how he was doing it. Violently gnawing at the cuticles of his thumb, then his index finger, then his middle, and so on and so on. He would repeat the same action over and over again, and over the course of a half an hour train ride this man did not once stop his methodical mutilation of his nail beds. This man just didn’t seem to be ale to relax, probably anticipating the next location he had to be in, and as I watched this man bite his nails for half an hour I began to sympathize with him and wonder what could be at the end of the train line that could make a grown man so uncomfortable that he would no longer care to be patient.
A character analysis, similar to seeing a moment in time, but not seeing the end result. We watch as this man is anxious, rude and careless. But as the train ride continues along we notice that his hair may be falling out, or that he is more nervous as the train gets closer and closer to his destination. We have shots of people commenting on his behavior, believing this man to be just a common jerk. But his expressions, and biting of finger-nails shows that he’s just on edge, regretting what is to come. The film could end with us arriving at the hospital in his local area, or walking towards a house, and leaving the audience wonder why he was so rude in the first place.