Of Narcissists and Mice

Yesterday I met a friend who had been on my mind for a while. I met the friend while on the bus. It was just a coincidence. And I got to thinking what would have happened if I hadn’t woken up at the unusually (for me) late hour? What would have happened if I had spent a little more time in the shower? What would have happened if it had been a shaving day (I shave every other day)? All these little seemingly inconsequential things came together to make two people meet in the bus.

But that wasn’t what really got my attention.

What about the people I didn’t meet because I woke up earlier or later than my usual time? What about when I gave up on a bus because it was too crowded? What about when I skipped shaving? Did I miss the future Mrs. Pereira because of these events? Did I miss meeting my future business partner? Did I miss meeting the person who would ruin my life (I don’t really miss meeting that person, truth be told)? That is what I was really thinking about? What did we miss in our lives because we took too long to wake up or decided to shave or decided to go back to get our wallet / handbag ?

I know these are stupid questions. None of these things happened so why should it bother us? It bothers me because I’m always in a ‘what if?’ mode. I can’t help it. Hopefully I won’t dwell on these things too much.
This post is dedicated to the people that I missed out on because I took too long to shave. You would have been great. Or maybe not. I’ll never know.