Cursory Glance

We encounter thousands of other people in our lives. Some we come to know, others only for a brief moment. It’s nearly impossible to know how many people we meet on average. But Google says around 50,000. I did a quick calculation of 365 x 75. 27,375. That’s one person every day for 75 years. So I suppose 50,000 seems reasonable. These are friends, acquaintances, and random people you see on the street. Folks that play such minor roles, we often don’t think of them again. It could be the guy who walks into a cafe and everyone knows his name. A trio of old folks drinking bloody marys. The bearded guy writing on a park bench. Your server from the last place you went out to eat. Each of these characters has their own backstory. They play a nameless role in your life as you do the same for them. All we offer them is a cursory glance.

I enjoy people-watching. Not the creepy guy on the playground bench. I watch people interact with others. I know nothing about these people besides how they act in front of me. I think about who these people might be, their jobs, home life, hobbies. Sometimes, I watch extended scenes of thirty minutes or more. Oftentimes, I witness no more than a few minutes of their day. Then I wonder what brought them here. What was their childhood like? Are their parents together? What rumors are they contemplating? Are they a good person? What secrets do they hide? What are their ambitions?

I’m not always people-watching. I, too, only glaze over characters in my life’s play. I focus on one guy at the cafe and ignore the other six. My waitress at brunch barely entered my mind, but I watched three elderly folks at a nearby table. We are all guilty of missing people in life, of giving small cursory glances and split-second thoughts. We have enough people in our lives as is – family, friends, colleagues, etc. But isn’t it crazy how many people there are? And everyone is performing their own play. What part do you play?

Living out in the boonies, you’ll meet fewer people. Living in the city, you’ll meet more. But let’s say the average number of people you meet is 50,000. Out of eight billion people, you’ll meet 0.00000625 %. A small portion of those will be your family and friends – the people you want to spend your life with. And the majority are other characters: “Man Crossing Street You Nearly Bump Into”, “Barber Owner”, and “Snow Plow Driver.” I wonder what could be different if we spoke more with these people. What would we learn? Or feel? What would change?

The following stories are not factual, aside from physical character descriptions. These are based on my experiences of people-watching. Another experiment in the future: making up a story and then talking with the subject to see what was right or wrong. I digress. The stories are based on people I noticed in my travels. They all played a role on the edge of my life. If I hadn’t focused on them, my life would be little different (no offense). A few had my attention for upwards of 30 minutes, but most had less than that. I took what little I knew of them and formed a backstory. I could be 100% wrong, but that’s the fun of it. Hell, I could be pretty spot-on. In any case, I hope you enjoy these stories of people that ordinarily, we only give a cursory glance.