Background

So I was reading a post on Google+ where the poster related feeling dehumanized and what a scary feeling that was. And the first thought that crossed my mind was "you get used to it." Which, taken at face value, can be a terrible thing to say. But you do become accustomed to it; or at least I did, because I came to realize that the people I interact with see me in a way that is driven by their experiences and desires, rather than my own, and they don't owe me any differently.

And the first part of that is easy to live with, but the second part can be hard, because it can be frightening to understand that to a certain degree, you're simply something between an extra and a prop for so many of the people that you meet. You worry that their stories, the ones that they are the heroes of, may have something very unpleasant scripted for you. But eventually, you come to really understand what it means to be an prop - that it's not about you. Just like your story, the one in which you are the hero, isn't about them. For there to be something unpleasant scripted for you, you would actually have to have a place in the script. And usually, I don't. I'm just another self-propelled piece of the scenery.

And I'm okay with that. I'm fine with only being as important as the ficus in the corner. Their stories don't need to cast me in a speaking role; that's what my story is for.