That One Random Person

I go to places. While I do have a variety in the places that I attend, once I am set into a schedule, I tend to not divert from the places that my schedule takes me very often. When going to work or school, I stand at the same bus stop at the same times with the same people on the same days, all going to their same places and all doing their same things.

After a routine has been established, I start to look at the people around me. I notice them, and particularly the ones that I see on a regular basis. The people whose daily or weekly schedules converge with my own at the same location and time. There is always the guy putting his bike on the bus at the same time that I get on, always the little mexican mom getting on the bus with her stroller and two kids, and always that girl who wears too much makeup and sits in the very back. I wonder about these people. Where are they going? What are their lives like? Are they interesting people, or boring people? What would they say if I talked to them?

It's interesting to think about the significant changes your life could experience if you were to walk to the bus stop 15 minutes earlier every day, and see different people, all going to their places of employment or education. A different set of people than the ones that you are used to. Sometimes I try to throw my schedule off during the week, just to see the different people that I see. Sometimes I'll run into someone that I know, or havn't seen in a while, and I find out that I was only missing them every day by a few minutes in the same location. Funny how converging and diverging occurs in our lives.

I also often wonder if I am that one random person in the life of someone else. The random guy always wearing his hoodie that they see everywhere, yet never have talked to. Are they curious about me, who I am and where I am going, or do I just get lost in the crowd?