Faces In The Crowd

I see tons of people every day who I don't know anything about except that on that particular day they are riding the bus or the metro to wherever they're going (work, home, play) or they're walking around Union Station or the Pentagon. Every now and then I'll wonder (on my way to or from work) what that person's story is. Everyone has a story...even if they think they don't. Call it nosy or call it human interest, but I love to hear, read, learn about other people's lives. As a result, I'm a huge fan of biographies and autobiographies. I work in a place with some pretty important people; major power brokers who have amazing life stories to tell about how they got to where they are now. But some of the most amazing stories I've ever heard come from people who have very little power (according to society's definition).

I'm not an extrovert (contrary to what most people might think). If I'm around a bunch of people that I know, then extroverted tendencies do come out, but put me in a room where I know no one and have to mingle...oh I'm horrible...your classic wallflower. So, I don't necessarily see myself actually walking up to one of these people that I commute with every day and saying, "tell me your story." They'd probably call metro police on me and have me committed. But, still, I wonder: what do they do?, where are they from?, are they married?, do they have kids?, are they happy?, do they know God?, could they use prayers?, what are their hopes and dreams?, what did they want to be when they grew up and are they actually doing that?...in short, what's their story?