Familiar Faces

When we try to determine a place we are at, we go by landmarks. When we try to determine a time we are at, do you go by your shadow length?

If you commute by public transport daily and at around the same hour, do you realize that you will see the same faces. Strangely, humans like routines. When we take train, we like to go to a particular cabin. When we go foodcourt, we tend to sit at a particular area. When we go washrooms, we may even select a particular cubicle. Of course, the above is based on the assumption of availability.

If we take our usual path to office daily at around the same time, we will notice that gradually we build up a group of ‘friends’, ie people we see everyday. Although we know next to nothing about them (not even names), we will miss them when we do not see them. Are they on leave or fallen ill? Sometimes, we may think that we are late (it is rare that we are early) or we have taken the wrong train. Just as landmarks help to tell places, these familiar faces help to tell time.

Although we may not like some of these faces, especially those who constantly wear a scowl or who have previously stepped on your toes, we cannot deny that they have slowly formed parts of lives. They have become the ‘landmarks’ of our routines. So have we of theirs.