Tag: invisible

Posted in neighbor, neighborhood

Anonymous neighbors

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Breno Assis on Unsplash

I have three new neighbors who live within one hundred yards of my home. Since the day they moved in, I have never seen them outside of their house.

As you (my readers) know, I walk my dogs at least twice a day. I pass by these homes in the early morning and in the afternoon or evening. I drive from and to my house and out of and into my neighborhood at least once a day. I see cars in the driveway and lights on inside the house. But I have never seen the people who live in these homes.

Do they never come out of their house? Do they spend all their time on the lanai by the pool out back? Does someone deliver their groceries to them? Are they alive? (On TV, people die in their homes and no one discovers them for weeks.) Are they nocturnal, awake at night but asleep during the day?

I know, I should take the first step. I should knock on their door and introduce myself. I should bring cookies or brownies to welcome them to the neighborhood.

But I don’t. I walk by their houses, wondering who’s in there. I naively assume that I’ll see them out and around. I’ll wave when they drive by. they’ll wave when I drive by. I’ll see them cutting the lawn, working in the garden, or washing their car. I’ll pass them walking around the block or gathering mail from the mail box.

Nope. None of that happens. Either they totally isolate themselves or they are completely invisible. I see no one going into our out of their house or garage.

I think that’s amazing. In this digital world, it’s almost impossible to disappear. We leave traces of ourselves everywhere, when we get cash from an ATM, drive through intersections, pay for gas, buy stamps, check email, text a friend, and follow GPS to a destination.

Aren’t there times when we all want to be invisible?

Posted in noticing

Invisible

Posted on by William Douthwaite

How long does something have to be in plain view before it becomes invisible?

We had to string a power cable for the camera over the front door. Obvious, unsightly, necessary and ugly. But I have to admit, when I paused to look at it today, I realized I don’t even notice it anymore. In just a matter of months it has become invisible.

So I wonder, what else becomes invisible with familiarity? What do we no longer notice or see going on around us because we see it every single day?

Could you describe all the pictures hanging on the walls of your home? Do you know which light bulbs aren’t working? What brand of TV do you own? What color is your front door? (Hey, don’t we all mostly go in and out of the garage?) What’s on that billboard you drive by every day?

More importantly, who do you no longer notice? At my son’s church, a police officer is stationed at the door every Sunday. I wonder how many people no longer notice him. He’s just part of the Sunday morning routine.

I’ve sat in enough choirs to know that some vocalists get so focused on their music that the director might as well be invisible!

Sometimes when I’m speaking, someone is looking off into the distance, as if I wasn’t even there.

I know what’s it’s like to be invisible.

Posted in Life

Invisible.

Posted on by William Douthwaite

invisible manI am invisible.

I am sitting at a table near Dunkin Donuts in the Orlando airport and I am invisible. As people come from the gates and head towards the B side of the terminal to get their bags or go to the parking lot, no one notices me.

I am staring right at them. I am staring at the woman wearing pajama bottoms. I am looking right at the man in a turban. I make eye contact with the woman in a tank top and no bra. I look into the eyes of the man with a large dog. A lady limping. A family on their way to Disney. No one sees me. No one sees me looking. All their attention is focused on the signs that lead them to their baggage, ground transportation or a parking garage. I can stare. I can take pictures. I can talk. I can laugh out loud. No one notices.

I am invisible.

I wonder how many times someone has been watching me? Someone I never saw. Someone who was invisible. Did I do something embarrassing? Did they laugh at me? Or did they not even take a second look?

Like I was invisible.