Sometimes, you're standing at the crosswalk to work, and just as you're about to cross, the light turns red. And you watch the cars zoom by and you wonder if you would be at work already if you had walked just a little bit faster. But what if you had walked across the street just as the car was coming down. And what if you had gotten hit. Became a little puddle of ketchup on the side of the road. And years after your death, parents will walk across that street with their kids. And when the children become impatient, they will say: "be careful, you could get hurt." And the kid will ask: "how?" And the parents go: "well, a couple years ago, some person was walking down the road. And they were not looking and got hit." And the kid states, as if they are the source of all wisdom: "that person is stupid." And the pair start walking, but that dosen't prevent the parents from quietly reminding their child: "WAS, dear. They WERE being dumb." And then the adults quietly chuckle to themselves. And you think, those parents probably knew you. They had probably seen you in the hallways and at the diners and had probably made conversation with you. And then the lights turn green. And someone pushes for you to move. And you walk across the road to work. Because it doesn't matter if it never happened.
