Intertwined

I was walking into Best Buy this evening, when I saw a couple a few yards ahead of me. There was nothing special about this couple in the slightest, nothing that really struck me about them. However, I began to wonder, "who comes to Best Buy as a couple this late, when it's so goddamn cold out?" And then I realized: I had no idea why.

We see countless people every day. It's safe to say that many of the paths we cross belong to people we've never seen before and may never see again. We simply ignore these strangers because, well, why wouldn't we?

It just suddenly hit me tonight, looking at this random couple walking into an electronics store, that I had no idea how much serenity or chaos could be taking place not ten yards away from me at any given time. I know that when I'm in public and my emotions are about to explode that it's sometimes almost impossible to tell that anything is wrong.

So much is happening at once on the planet, and we all get so caught up in our own lives that we don't bother to see the big picture. No, this isn't one of those "take the time to care about others" speeches. It's more of a "take the time to realize that you aren't alone here and be aware of other situations" speech.

Why was that couple walking into Best Buy that late on such a cold night? 

Maybe her insane mother-in-law threw their cordless phone out the window, and they needed to pick up a new one because he was expecting an important call later that night.

Maybe they were having relationship problems and were trying to resolve their issues with monetary items.

Maybe they were just beginning to fall in love and were picking out a movie to watch during the night.

Maybe they weren't even a couple.

You just never know.