The stranger you nearly spoke to remains a possibility with no biography to contradict it.

An unspoken conversation stays perfect because nothing has been added to it. The person remains whatever you imagined, unencumbered by any actual information, and no real exchange can compete with a possibility that has never been tested. Unlived options keep their shine by not being lived.

Worth remembering when you compare a real relationship, job, or city with one you did not take. You are comparing something with all its detail against something with none. Either test the possibility or set it down honestly, and be careful of measuring your actual life against a version that was never given the chance to disappoint you.