Passersby

Last week I was in California on assignment for Desinations magazine, the publication of Worldmark. I don't travel too much (a homebody, really), so I particularly noticed the people who I'd never see again: flight attendants, gas station attendants, clerks, people walking across parking lots, et al.

It is, of course, unrealistic to think that we can know everybody. But when seeing so many new faces who I will never see again (most likely) gives me a certain pang. Those people had stories and lives and hopes and tragedies and dreams. But those stories intersected (not even, really) with me for only an instant. And then they were gone, and I'll never know what happened to them.

I sometimes have this same feeling when I see a jet flying overheard--all those people with all those stories flying by.

I think I think too much.