blame it on watching Serendipity too many times over the weekend but now i find myself thinking about destiny and fate and this want of connection or a feeling or familiarity with everyone else in the world. no, not to the point of physical action but just mental and emotional connection. i’d even pick on that shortlived random connection with a stranger.
one would almost always hear john mayer’s lines:
i could have met you in a sandbox
i could have passed you on the sidewalk
could i have missed my chance
and watched you walk away?
a couple of days ago, this local paper featured a blog inspired by missed connections. that one moment where a perfect stranger crosses your path, sometimes says hi, or sometimes looks your way and for a few seconds you just know there’s something about the other person worth finding out… and in true ‘my best friend’s wedding’ fashion, that moment of connection just passes by, leaving as quickly as it came and only ever really fast enough for you to realize it might be too late.
no it’s not the moment when you watch someone you just met at a party play the guitar and after a few songs, gamely tell her “i wish i’d met you sooner… even just a few days sooner. otherwise, i wouldn’t be together with my girlfriend now. we’ve only been together two days.”
it’s more of that moment during earth hour where you head for the bar to stock up on beer before the lights go out and just as you place your elbows on the bar and say “two bottles of San Mig Light, please”, the lights go out. and you realize that there’s this stranger you accidentally cut off who was ordering and in the darkness you apologize for cutting him off and he engages you in small talk about how the bartender must be having a hard time and he asks how much a beer is and proceeds to treat his friends to beer while continuing the small talk with you. and you both wait nervously for your respective beers wondering how this will pan out. and you sort of just marvel at how predictable some guys can be that you start a countdown in your head that in a few minutes, you just KNOW he’s going to introduce himself. the smiles are hidden, the bartender hands the beer and someone at the bar lights a candle in between you both and he reaches out and says, “hi i’m peter”. and all that’s left is for you to take his hand, and introduce yourself and say “well… i have to go back to my friends. enjoy your beer” and he politely says “you too. see you around.”
and you both walk away with your cold beer in your hands wishing you had the other person’s number somewhere on a sheet of torn receipt, or a piece of tissue.. or even that age old spot on the palm of your hand.
but you don’t. so instead, you head for this blog and possibly post something to help find him and get rid of that one “what if?”
something short of a connection classified ad or a connection lost and found. it just might be worth a shot:
http://missedconnectionsmanila.tumblr.com/
Tags: intoxication, me and you, missed chances
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