Water Balloons (not really)

Hey, you. Stop scrolling.

Drop the mouse (I doubt you still use a mouse). Leave the trackpad. 

No, I'm not asking you to step away from the computer and enjoy the fresh air, because then I'd have no audience for this post. Hear me out.

Ever have those moments where some aspect of your sensory modalities immediately stops you in your tracks? 

I'm sort of (not really) talking about smelling that one neighborhood shop's pie again or hearing that one song another time or reactivating your umami receptors for that specific flavor again or...

Well, anyways. This time I'm talking about sight. 

I was walking down this street, left to my own thoughts, until I came five yards away from someone. Someone familiar.

I'll admit that, perhaps, this person simply had an appearance similar to someone I thought I knew. Backwards hat, black V-neck T-shirt, dark denim jeans, etc. See? I bet you can think of many people who fit that description.

Then I remembered that the person I thought I saw isn't present on social media. I don't even know whether a Google search for them would render any fruitful results. They aren't the type to publicize their daily happenings (unlike me, clearly). I have no idea where they are located now or what they might do. It's been at least three years since I saw that person previously. I guess I'm not so familiar with their current self myself. 

So there I was within conversation distance with someone I may have known but someone I didn't really know well. What if I initiated small talk with them? Brought up a specific funny incident stored in my brain from this time I knew this person I thought I saw? 

Well I didn't. I immediately diverged to the right. Why risk embarrassment over a funny (not really) story about water balloons? 

Then I continued to be left to my own thoughts. I thought about the places where I've lived in my short life and the people with whom I've had short-term friendships. What if we all had "long-lost" friends that we became reacquainted with some time later? It wouldn't be like some movie. It'd be an unusual and stimulating way to step outside of ourself and reflect on who we once may have been. 

So one small observation snowballed into a stream of thinking, much like this post. Even if I didn't capture your attention for very long, seeing that familiar face held my attention for quite a while.

Now you can step outside. You've been staring at the computer too long. 

-the other kid-