Going up

Take a step...
Onto a machine that takes you to a different location...
standing on that moving staircase...
Do you stand still?
Do you run up the stairs, moving faster than you could on your own?
Notice the people around you?
Or simply move to the place you are going without looking around?
It can be a study of human nature.
Noticing the people around you..
the harried woman with a child who is not having a good day..
Yelling at the top of his lungs until she finally gives in..
She finally says that he can have whatever he is desperately pining for..
The old woman sitting on the bench muttering to herself..
A bit disheveled, but digging through a massively huge purse looking for that ever important item that is just beyond her reach.
The impeccable gentleman in a three piece suit,
Talking on his phone,
Urgently trying to close a deal while purchasing a pack of cigarettes and some gum.
The teenager with his headphones in,
Tuning out the entire world..
The person who pushes past on the mechanical staircase...
Murmuring excuse me as they push past.
Standing on the stair, as it reaches half way..
noticing the bright colors,
The music in the background...
The sales woman desperately trying to help the suburban housewife...
Who wants the perfect dress for a special night out with her husband.
I wonder, as I reach my destination, what are their stories..
What is the background that causes the hurried mother to give into the child?
Who is the old woman missing?
Is that impeccable gentleman working to pay a mortgage, while his wife stays home with a child?
What drives the teenager into himself, into his music?
How is that moment in time going to make a difference in the world?
As I take a step off the mechanical stairs, to get to my destination, I wonder.
I shake myself out of my thoughts and continue on...
Taking a step towards whatever path life has for me...
and sincerely hope I never stop recognizing the rest of the world that happens while I take a ride on the escalator.