Wait, what are peas again?
Do you ever wonder what you’ve said in public, in a grocery store or at a restaurant or waiting for the bus, that someone has heard and remembered their whole life?
Since I’m not a teacher, doctor, driver, or someone who marries people, random encounters seem like the main way I can insert myself into anyone’s life. I like to imagine that a couple on their first date overhead me saying something dumb and meaningless and now even years after they’ve broken up they’ll sometimes text each other “u remembr tht person at th table next to us tht sed ‘wait what are peas again?’” And they’ll always have that! We’re just inserting ourselves into each other’s stories for free.
Also that’s how I assume other people text.
Once when I worked at a library help desk, a student came walking toward the desk holding an open laptop. He was just a few feet away when he somehow tripped, fell, and dropped the laptop on the edge of the desk - completely shattering the screen. Then he set the remains of his totally destroyed laptop on a nearby table, and calmly said “Hey I have a research question, we’ll need to use your computer though.” I think about that guy once a week.
I hope it's nice enough to bike to your appointments this week, that your laptop remains intact, and that you’re a part of a stranger’s life in a small nice way.
I wonder about this ALL the time. I also spend more time than I should wondering about pictures that I might be in the background of. Do I look like a moron? Do people say, "This would be such nice picture of us were it not for that weirdo in the background?"
My mother was the lovely sort of person who enjoyed complimenting strangers. In line at the grocery store, sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, etc. She loved to brighten someone’s day and start a conversation. She’s been dead nearly 20 years and I still hear “boy I miss your mom” whenever her name’s brought up.