Perfect Strangers

You do remember me, don't you?

I am the kid you never met in High School.

I am that friend you had in Middle School, whose name you can't seem to remember.

I am the greasy spoon waiter you stiffed when you forgot your wallet.

I am the bum that is always begging for bus money, even if he has nowhere else to go.

I am the hero you idolized when you were little, and the one you pretended not to when you got older.

I am the flashing face of every charity you have ever pitied.

I am the figure you were too scared to walk by at night, and the one you avoided in the day.

I am the one you smiled at when we bumped into each other in the grocery store, the one that helped you pick up what you had dropped.

I am the man in the bleachers with a beer-stained jersey, cheering a little too loudly for a team he has never actually met.

I am the kid in the back row who never said a word, the one who kept looking back at the floor every time you noticed him.

I am the hitchhiker you were always told not to pick up, or the one you were always too busy to help.

I am the driver of every passing car.

I am a blurred image in an endless crowd.

I am every face you have forgotten.

I am every presence you never noticed.

I am every story you have never heard.

So

You do remember me now,

Don't you?