People in this world have problems; problems of their own, problems of others, problems that have no names. Everyone has problems. If you have smaller problems, you may slide into happiness once in a while. If the problem is bigger, other smaller problems might add to that and life may become even more difficult.

We human beings are known for our ability to fight to stay alive, and sometimes it feels like we have too many problems. But living with problems does, at least, mean we are still living, and we still have to move forward. But how? Now that's the question we do not often ask.

Hello. I am just a girl in the street, who simply observes and judges people by their momentary appearance. My plan is to make a judgement about someone with zero background information, and no, I am not always supposed to get it right. It is my job to find out the worst truths about someone, to discover their greatest secret.

Now, here comes subject number one. For me to do my job, it is necessary to call any human being I observe a ‘subject’, but again we are unique human beings with our own unique inventions, so I guess that's nothing new.

To get back on track, my first subject, a girl, is probably about 22 or 23 years old, but somehow she manages to look older. She has a daughter with her, who looks to be about five years old, and surely she cares for her, because that's what mothers do for their little ones. But to me, she looks disappointed and mostly tired.

I need more back-up information to support my view, so I look for other signs, but I find nothing but her eyes... her dark circled eyes… which seem to be looking for someone to help her to carry her problems.  But here she is, holding her troubles by herself, with her little daughter in her fragile hands.

We are sitting in the first seat of a bus, and before us there is only a window of broken glass. Outside, the sunlight is not strong, making the day seem gloomy and sad. The bus is travelling at a terrible speed. My subject and I have to hold onto our seats tightly, so that we don't bump our souls into that broken glass. I manage to do so using all my power; yet, because she is with her child, she has to do even more! She has tied a knot in her orna* around herself and her little girl, to keep her safe.

She seems so afraid.  Perhaps this is because of the fact that no one here is helping her to stay safe at this moment. She clearly cannot not afford to make any more effort to protect her burden. Neither will her ‘knot’* help her! This should not sound so surprising, because that’s life. Life just happens, and it happens to everyone. If not, then our precious society will also place us under the weight of other heavy problems, right? So, surely, this is why this girl does what she has to do, and does not give up, even if she wants to!

My observation of my subject has so far led me along a fine path. It shows me that my subject has sad, worthless feelings about herself. But then again, we all suffer from that in some way. Right?

So will this girl ever know, while holding onto the window handle with her right hand, and with the other one balancing her daughter and her bag, that she was studied by an unknown observer! Or, if she did notice that she was being watched, would she take that as an insult and feel a sense of discomfort that I, her observer, might have caused her?

But the big question is really one that we should all ask ourselves… Will we ever be able to ask ourselves honestly about the problems that we try to hide if we hold onto our ‘seats’? And why is it that we hold so tightly to our ‘protective cushions’, those things that make us feel safe in life, so that our problems do not walk around on the streets, in the daylight, for all to see!

*orna = long scarf

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Learning Activities

Vocabulary Lists: learn all of the words from the following two lists…

1. High Frequency Words from the 2nd 1000 General Service Word List