My own private sociology

I watched two older men (late 40s early 50s, older than me) while I sat at McDonalds for lunch. They could be described as maybe a homosexual, liberal, artsy set (well kept hair, not a business style of hair, well kept skin, unusual jewelry including a thumb ring, tattoos)  or just very unique.  What caught my eye initially, though, was the fact that both men ordered happy meals.  They sat next to a father (older, also, possibly grandfather), with two young (under seven) children.  The men compared their toys, then handed them to the kids at the next table.  A small act of kindness in a world that often overlooks such acts.  All of this made me think, from a sociological perspective, how we try so hard to catalogue, place, and fit others into boxes that we construct in our minds. We have a need to label and understand, even if this really doesn’t help our understanding.  What box would I put them into?  I wish I had the guts to approach them and ask to take their photo.  I wish I had the guts to talk to people.  I am terrified of the phone, and stumble through small talk with people.  I am the poster child for dramaturgy (look it up in the text book).  I would love to have posted their photo and asked what stood out in this photo.  By the time I worked up some nerve to stand up (a couple with a baby carrier needed to sit down, and I was in the handicap seat), the men had finished, and were heading to their car.  They got in a truck (veers away from liberal, although it wasn’t a super duty) and the passenger (the younger looking) put out a plastic powerade bottle beneath the car, littering (obviously, not too green).  I guess that breaks the easy liberal stereotype. Boxes aren’t so easy to fill we find, or we should realize.  Soon, I hope to have the courage to document tattoos and piercings that interest me as I see them in the world.  If I find the courage.