Everyone’s the main character in their own story. In yours, don’t treat them like extras.

Other people carry the same depth of inner life you do, complete with worries you will never hear a word about. That is obvious when stated and nearly impossible to hold onto during a busy day, where people function as obstacles or background. Treating them as extras is not cruelty, it is a shortcut the mind takes by default.

Pick one person you usually move straight past, a driver, a server, a classmate, and remember that they had a whole morning. Ask something real. It costs seconds and changes the texture of the day for both of you.