Postcard 011 - Crossing Paths
I've misjudged the length of New York City blocks enough times in my life that my plan when I'm walking to meet a friend is to arrive about 15 minutes early. Thanks to a miscommunication on my end, I found myself over 30 minutes early to eat with a friend in SoHo this past June, and instead sat on a bench, fixated on the shadows dancing around this table.
I watched people play musical chairs as they finished a meal and others start one, and it made me wonder how often — especially in a city like New York — you might pass someone before you met them (if ever). How often do you end up at your local coffee spot holding the door open for someone who eventually becomes your neighbor? How often are you a table over from someone who becomes your colleague? (This feels like one of those things that would make a fascinating data visualization, but radically improbable to actually do publicly though I'm sure Google could do something like this). After this experience, I find myself asking that question a lot - both to myself and about others.
At this specific table, I watched someone pull a chair out a certain way, being careful to avoid catching it on the sidewalk cracks. I could almost see the muscle memory of the dozens (hundreds?) of reps they've gotten in and it made me wonder how often the same people sat across from them, not just at that table, but in their view at the restaurant itself.