Flash

Tonight I was driving to my piano lesson and while heading into town at 6:00 pm I noticed that there was an abundance of traffic on the other side of the road and very little on mine. And of course I know that's because the average time to get off of work or leave town is around dinner time, which happens to be 5:30-7:00 pm, but that is beside the point. This only led to the following thoughts before I resumed my very crackled, but entertaining singing to Lana Del Rey.
As cars were passing by in groups of five I managed to first look at each individual car. How it was unique from the other four surrounding it. Then I studied the model. What kind of person might be driving this car home. I'd see a four runner and think, family. A pickup and automatically a vision of a old dirt road, engulfed by trees on either side. A sedan with a nice suburban house, porch lights on. Welcoming to the parent, adult, worker, friend. And within these last few milliseconds of analysis I'd look even closer. Peer through the windshield and gaze at the driver. The verge of darkness falling upon the sky masking the features just enough to let my mind create a muffled picture to match to the appropriate car. And just for a second, I'd imagine that I could get a five second preview of their day.
What might have happened in another person's day? Did they have a desk job? Clicking keys away at the computer all day like I am now? Work in a store? Talk to customers and visit in attempt to convince them to buy a product? Or a coffee shop owner? Making espresso's all day long? Seeing the look on the persons face when they finally receive their caffeine intake? What if someone had that ability? See other people's life just for that day... what that would look like. How they speak. Act. Think.
The last thought that this brought to me while all these things ran through my mind, was how people would maybe, just maybe, be able to get a glimpse into my day. Have a five second preview. And would I offer an entertaining five seconds? If my day was boiled down to that five seconds, would I want to live each minute any differently than I do now?