Prompt Sunday - bingo!

I'm on my way home from Los Angeles. It's been a good trip, with various adventures and dramas. As I often do when I travel, I've been playing bingo. I make up an imaginary list of stereotypes and mutter, "bingo," whenever I see one of them.

My LA list included things like:

• Someone carrying a little dog (bingo! a chihuahua)
• Someone under 8 years old on a cell phone (bingo! and being pushed in a stroller by someone on their own cell phone)
• Someone talking about working in the service industry while they look for their next role/sell their screenplay (bingo! three guys over brunch)
• A celebrity (bingo! Kareem Abdul Jabar. He's very tall.)
• The Pacific ocean (nope)
• and so on.

I love this game. I play it all the time in all different kinds of circumstances, not just when I'm in new places. I find playing bingo makes me more observant and appreciative of the world around me. I see things I might otherwise miss, I make up stories and I amuse myself. 

Some of my every day bingo lists might include:

• Something that could be mistaken for a UFO
• A person who looks like they have a secret
• A pair of red shoes
• and so on.

I challenge you to come up with your own bingo lists. It will make you look at the world more acutely and give you terrific fodder for story, for art, for seeing the world without the lens of fatigue and disillusionment.

Feel free to post your own bingo lists in the comments, I'd love to know what you looked for and what you saw. And as a reminder, I'm giving away altered writer's notebooks with suggestions and prompts next week. Go here for a chance to win!

(c)2011 Laura S. Packer