#7: From someone else’s perspective…

I’ve thought about point of view a lot. Since I was little, I’ve wondered about, for example, what goes on in a bully’s head. Maybe they’re pursuing acts of hate because they’re experiencing acts of the same sort. 

Imagine walking down a sidewalk in, let’s say, NYC. You’ll pass thousands of people; some people may look happy, some indifferent, even some melancholy. There are such extensive backstories to each of these people, yet you pass them without a second thought. What if they just got a job promotion? Maybe they just resigned. What if they learned about the birth of a new family member? Maybe they just lost someone. Or, maybe they have a fake persona they’ve put on. Someone with a smile extending from ear to ear may have just lost someone, and you’ll never know. 

Fine, new scenario: you’re on a dating app - tinder, perhaps? You swipe left on many people. Hmm… Tyler, Jake, Mia, Annie. None of them suffice! But, what if you’d chosen Tyler? You would have come to know that he lost his lover long ago and was finally open his heart again. You would have ended up together, bought a nice house in the suburbs, had a few children, and lived a beautiful life. But, you swiped right on Annie and Jake, both “serial swipers”. You end up getting hurt, realizing they never loved you.

The world population is above 8,000,000,000 people. The average American will only meet about 10,000. Thats 7,999,990,000 people we will never know. Stories we will never know. Perspectives we will never understand.