Panera Musings

People fascinate me. I love to watch them. The ways they interact with one another, the ways they act when they think no one is watching. I've spent the past two days working at Panera. It's where I often come when I am preparing a talk.
As I sit in the worn leather brown chair in the corner I am in the perfect location for people watching. It's lunch time and my seat is near the door. Often I've kept my laughter under restraint as I glance unassumingly up from my computer screen to catch people's reactions to the long lines. Men in suits and ties, Women in skirts and heels. It's obvious that the majority of people are in the business world. Have you even tried to guess who works where? Have you ever noticed the way men check out women with out trying to make it obvious? This realization alone is about to set me on a rampage like none other. It doesn't seem to matter what we wear. A woman in a business suit gets her butt checked out just as quickly as the woman who walked in in the short tennis skirt.
A woman in line just made a comment about Panera being full of people from all walks of life. I think about it while I type away eating my made from home peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I love this place, free Internet, interesting people, but the cost of a sandwich? Come on $6.39 just seems a little crazy. Don't worry, I'll get a hot tea eventually, but for now I am okay with my free glass of water.