A few weeks ago the department chair emailed me the list of students in my upcoming ed class. I recognized three of them, but the others were just syllables. On the first day I kept trying to match up names with faces, and mostly got it right, but they were still generic college kids. 

This week I arrived a few minutes early to set up the art project, and a few of them were already in the room. We chatted about their part time jobs, and plans for Christmas. One described a health issue that kept her out of school last year, and another laughed about the fifteen hour days he worked over the weekend. Once class began, we talked about memories, or "remains" as they are sometimes called. I asked what sweet traditions their families have at the holidays, and learned that one girl has a family even larger than mine. Is that even possible? Another mentioned that his mother works with autistic children, and he likes to help out over the break. One girl described the annual arguments that happen in their three generational home over the size of the tree and tinsel distribution, and that she wouldn't change a thing. 

Gradually these young people expanded to be humans whose world included more than the two hours they spent with me. Embarrassing to admit it, but there it is. 

It is tempting to fence people into ridiculously tight quarters. The jerk who cut me off in traffic not only meant to, he guffawed at my outrage.  The clerk who is being unhelpful about my return request for a shirt that doesn't fit has nothing else on her mind, and is doing a pitiful job of that singular task. 

But we mortals are more complex than that. This moment when we interact, or bump heads, is but one frame in a movie that extends way back, and long into the future.