I had this moment driving to work the other morning.

There was a teenage girl walking to the bus stop. She lives in the apartment above me and I see her almost every morning so I waved to her as I went by and she waved back. I don't even know what made me think of it from that, but as I drove away I thought about a storyline in which somebody has a mundane encounter such as this and then later is killed tragically. The last person who saw them alive is the person who waved to them, or who they waved to, and neither realizes it as they have the encounter, the other person never does.

I thought how strange of a concept that is, what a unique story it would be. But then I realized that it's the most common story in the world and we never even know it as it happens. For every person who dies, there is someone who was the last person to see them alive. It could be the attendant at the gas station, the barista at the Starbucks, the guy walking his barking dog down the sidewalk... it could be you, passing them in the entry vestibule at Target, or sitting next to them at the red light in traffic and you meet their eye for a split second.

Make every second count, be a pleasant human because you never know when you could be the last person for someone else, or who will be your last person.