Eavesdropping

I have signed up to a free creative writing course through FutureLearn. These courses were pointed out by someone whose blog I follow, but I'm afraid I can't remember which one. Thank you, if it was you. Step forward and take a bow.

I've only just started, but already I've realised that most of inspiration comes from things I've heard - perhaps a cheeky phrase or an odd snippet of conversation. My long-suffering husband is used to sitting with me in pubs and restaurants thinking that I am hanging on his every word and then realising that I have a glazed look in my eyes and that I'm actually listening to the people behind me.

When I was walking through the town centre this lunchtime I saw two missionaries (is that the word?) from the Mormon church being given a talking-to by an elderly gentleman whom I heard say, 'That's all very well, but let me ask you this: do you think that God can do anything?' I wonder what their reply was. They will undoubtedly have had an answer.

Anyway, one of the first tasks on this course was to watch a short video presenting a series of images of people at bus stops, in cafes, talking together, sitting alone, etc, etc, and we then had to jot down our impressions of what we'd seen. I was astounded at the amount of detail that some people picked up on. This is clearly something I need to work on.

I wonder if my dependence on eavesdropping stems from my shortsightedness? Without my glasses, even my fingers are out of focus!