What could be the story behind..?

He was leaning against the sign post of a bus stop. Clearly, today was not a cheerful day for him. As I drove past, I noticed that he almost collapsed onto the small seat in the bus stop. Shortly thereafter, he broke down in tears and all I could see in my rear view mirror was the image of a man wiping his tears, trying to prevent an outburst of emotions. Though my car had left the scene, my brain was hooked on it. He must be in his 30s, I thought to myself; so what could be the cause of his sadness? Did he lose his job? Was he hitting the now cliched "mid life crisis"? Did he just hear some devastating news?  

Careful! A red light..I must stop thinking about strangers and their problems and concentrate on the road.

That's me - a big sucker for flashbacks. I am always interested in moments that are out of the ordinary, since they usually have an equally interesting story that culminated the moment just preceding this one. What could be the series of events that led to this? Does it have to do with how the person reacted in that situation? Or does it have to do with society and its practises? Or as many who believe in a superpower say - is it all a part of a giant play that is orchestrated

with immense precision, skill and forethought?

At the next traffic light, I saw a bunch of boxes scattered on the road.  They were small wooden boxes and their contents (which was some kind of vegetable - as you can figure out I am a carnivore, hence the lack of skill in identifying a lesser known vegetable)  had spilled out in all directions on the road. I wondered why people were not paying attention to this - perhaps they were in their own little wooden boxes trying to get through their daily grind. But my mind wandered again - Was it an accident? Did somebody knock off these boxes when their vehicle hit a bump? Or did someone forget to tie down these boxes carefully? No matter what the situation was - how did bystanders and passers by react? Were they helpful?Or did they just ignore it? The undoing of these small wooden boxes is no small matter, it requires deep afterthought and analysis. (At least, I thought so!)

This obsession for flashbacks has ruined many a good movie for me. When friends mention a scene in the movie that is particularly good, my rebuttal goes somewhat like this - "Well, he was raised in a rich family and had a good education - So I don't think the portrayal of his reaction was accurate". I would have constructed his whole life for him based on the facts mentioned in the movie - and eventually conclude that the flashback does not lead to this particular scene. I also find faults with situations that are the reverse - the flashback shown in the movie conveniently ignores some facts of the present. Well, my dear director friend - you cannot deceive me - I have identified the traits that must go in the flashback, and it should be depicted as I perceived it to be!  

I must really seek some professional help.

I parked my car at work, headed up to our floor and slowly walked to my section. The scene I saw  stopped me on my tracks and got me in the ever wondering flashback mode - a messy laptop docking station, a cup that was  half full with old coffee and an empty cube- what could be the story behind..Wait, that is my cube - and I am late for work. I better get on my tasks or else someone else could be wondering about this scene  - " A teared up version of me walking down the stairs with a pink slip in hand". 

No, I definitely would not want that. So long, wandering mind. Now go rest in peace.