Alien Acquaintances
Every person you pass could be someone special in your life. Sometimes just small coincidences let you meet a new person, you would just have passed by in every other situation. Sometimes you want to get to know a person, but the chance never comes. You see them in the distance, looking on them like a star passing by in the firmament. In these moments you ask yourself, if you missed the chance to talk to that person and what it would have been like, if you talked. Maybe it would have been an awkward conversation which wouldn’t lead anywhere, maybe it would have been the start of a new friendship. You just don’t know, and you can just imagine about it. Sometimes you would also see someone in the subway which is just approaching. You see their face and think: “Wow, I would have really liked to talk to this person, but I will probably never see them again.” Maybe you look at each other and smile.
It also happens that you meet someone you encountered several times before and then get to talk to each other. It sort of feels like you both always waited for the situation to communicate, like you know each other before, are familiar with each other, but never got the chance to talk. You can feel this connection with the first word you exchange. You suddenly walk into each other after a class and know that now it is time.
And sometimes you want to sit on a bench and another person squeezes into it at the same time. First you feel like “this is my space, I wanted to sit here alone”, but then he hears you talking your mother tongue on the phone, and you start a meaningful refreshing conversation, realizing you have a lot in common. And suddenly the alien face is turning into a friendly smile which you would like to see again.
Under other circumstances you would have just passed each other, looking at you screen or sunken in the music of your airpods.
But this time, something magically broke the barrier. And to be fair, Americans are really good at breaking that barrier.
Everyone you see has the potential to make your day. And most likely these persons are not the ones you would pick just by the looks.
And keep in mind that you are this person to many people.