extras

When we go about our daily routine we interact with the same people; our co-workers, our classmates, our families -- the people who are the main characters in our lives. There are also the people, the extras, we see everyday who we interact with minimally -- a superficial "Hey, how's it going?" while standing in the elevator or a small smile while passing each other in the halls. By the way, I try to only ask people questions like "How's it going?" or "How are you?" when I genuinely care about how they are doing. I try to not ask that of people I don't know because who knows when someone answers, "It's not going well. My wife just left me and she took our dog with her." Then you'd have to say, "I'm really sorry, I hope things work out" then you are stuck listening to a stranger go on and on about their misery while you are trying to go about your day. Trust me. I am speaking from experience. This has happened to me before.

Anyway, I digress. Back to the extras.

About three times a week I run into this lady near my office -- well she approaches me -- panicked and desperate with a different story every time about why she needs money. She is not homeless. In fact she lives right next door to my building (in a nice location) in a low-income rehabilitation home. Perhaps she is a recovering meth addict because I once read somewhere that recovering meth addicts dress like they are stuck in the 90s (not My So Called Life trendy 90s, more like the movie The Fighter 90s) and she kind of dresses like that. She wears her hair in a half pony tail held high with a scrunchy and she wears old denim jackets. Her signature style is sweat pants, bright green sweat pants that I can spot two blocks away.

Also, about once a week (or depending on how often I go out for beers after work) I see this older guy at one of the nearby bars I frequent. There are a lot of regulars at this bar, but I see this guy at other bars (which makes sense because we likely have the same taste in beer). He is tall kind of slender, long gray hair pulled back in a pony tail. I have never spoken a word to this guy,  I don't even think a single "hello" but whenever I see him he acknowledges my presence. He smiles or waves or nods his head when he sees me. I do the same and this has been going on for months -- maybe even a year.

Well the point of all of this is that I sometimes think about the extras and wonder if they somehow play a really small but someday significant role in my life.