The Way of the World and How Small I Am

I wandered the city streets feeling rather small and out of place.... much like a fish out of water. It was hard to breathe-- though, that could be attributed to all the smokers and their insensitivities of blowing in my face. Or perhaps the kicked up smog and dirt of the cars rushing by. The air was filled with the cacophony of incessant honking, pedestrians on their phones and muted music flowing into the street from the shops. I wanted to pause... let everything, and everyone around me stop, for just one second. My brain could hardly process all the activity, noise and sights.
It was oddly chilling... all these people... all of their lives... parallel to mine... just in another reality... We all exist on the same earth, in the same time, and maybe have a thing or two in common... but have nothing to do with each other.
I have always wondered what it would be like to meet every person in the world... the President... a starving child in Africa... a NYC hipster.... a religious folk, from any walk of belief... the stranger down the street....
And not even the secular amongst...
A trip to Monsey showed me that their are so many of my own, my own brothers and sisters that I will never know... or understand...
Sometimes... it makes me think.