"Single Serving Friends" or Moments to Be Remembered?

You know that scene in Fight Club when the main character is on the airplane and talks about "single serving friends," the people that come and go especially when travelling, who you talk to for a while but that's about it? I was reminded of that on the train today on the way back from Lancaster.

There was a nice fellow sitting at one of the table setup kind of seats, so I thought I'd take the spot across from him since there weren't many other spots open and he looked like he might be interesting. Sure enough, he went to the same "uni" as Jenny at Lancaster and was on his way home for the 1.5 hour daily commute. We talked a while about travelling in the US, the sights in Britain, and life in our respective towns.

When we arrived at his hometown of Crewe, we wished each other luck and said good-bye. We never exchanged names.

I spent about 7 hours on the plane to London next to a young woman named Anette, but I didn't know her name until I asked her about 2 hours into the flight. I spent about 2 hours on a train to Lancaster this weekend chatting with a friendly older woman named Julie, and didn't even realize I didn't know her name until I tried to tell Jenny whose mobile phone I was using to call her. Single serving friends. But coincidently, both of those ladies were teachers in some area of Britain. Funny, hm?

Maybe they are just temporary aquaintances, but they did the job spendidly. I've never been bored on a trip. And the same goes for the random people I've met at the bar downstairs, or at the school I'm working at. Such interesting people to meet from all over the place. All it takes is a few friendly words of greeting and a whole stream of conversation can come forth. Or I could have silently sat down, put on my headphones, and tuned out the world. Perhaps there's time for both.