Only Connect

Running the other night, another runner waved at me, and I waved back. I didn't know him, but I assumed he was just acknowledging the encounter of another human, suffering along with him down Mass. Ave. on the same cold Tuesday night in February. Drivers of certain cars (Saabs and old Volkswagens for example) do this too when they pass each other on the road. City bus drivers and school bus drivers too. Truck drivers, especially ones from the same distributor. Nothing else about our lives might be shared or common, but here we are, right here and right now; let's take it for what it is.

E.M. Forster said the only really important thing is to connect with other people. I've had my share of wordless retail transactions (and hell, relationships, for that matter), meetings where I didn't really even say hello to the people in the room before launching into the agenda, entire meals with people where the only sound is the scraping of silverware on porcelain. With connection comes responsibility and accountability. Sometimes we welcome that and sometimes we avoid it. If you ask someone how they're doing, the answer might not be good, and what then? You'll probably be late for something.

When I run, I look down at about a 45-degree angle. This covers the range of possible hazards: other pedestrians, cars, things to trip on. I might fall over, but I'm going to try and look up more.