Eye see you

People rarely look at others beyond themselves.

So much goes unobserved in all the busyness that life throws at us.

Understandably, making money becomes the priority. We barely have enough time and energy for ourselves.

Sometimes we don’t even pay enough attention to the people we love. How then can we be expected to care about friends? And why would we care about strangers?

It’s okay if we don’t. Nobody is judging.

But every now and then, I wonder how many moments pass us by because everyone is simply trying to get through the day.

Today, at an eatery during lunch hour, a tray return attendant was busy clearing trays from the shelves.

People were dropping off their trays one after another while she worked.

As I was placing mine on the shelf, I noticed she had stopped moving.

She was looking at me through the gaps in the shelving from the other side.

For a moment, neither of us did anything.

So I bent down slightly, looked back at her through the panels, smiled and said, “Thank you.”

She looked startled.

Then she awkwardly smiled and said, “Thank you, thank you” back to me.

The whole exchange probably lasted less than two seconds.

Nothing happened.

Nothing important, anyway.

I don’t do particularly well with stranger interactions. Yet somehow these moments keep finding me.

And for a brief moment, there is this silent acknowledgement that another person exists.

Sometimes that acknowledgement becomes a smile.

Sometimes it becomes a conversation.

And sometimes it is nothing more than eye contact before both people continue on with their day.

I think many people are lonelier than they let on.

Not lonely enough to say it out loud.

Just lonely enough that being noticed for a second feels different.

So when I see someone harmlessly looking at me, I usually look back.

Most of the time, anyway.

The exception, of course, is the pervy ones.

Those people get a very different response.