[ WP ] When meeting someone for the first time , shaking hands automatically confers the near death experiences of each individual to the other .

I stared at him from across the room, intrigued by what experiences may lay behind his facade of smiles and small talk. I had neglected to shake his hand when he first entered the room, due to the distance between us, but instead had to reduce to a causal wave and a `` Hello''. I let my mind wander, entertaining the many possible ideas of his near-death experiences. He seemed nice enough to not be harboring a dark past on his shoulders, but surprisingly, it's often the ones you do n't expect to have the darkest experiences that actually do. So, I withheld my predictions for a while and resorted to my present judgment of the stranger before me. 
 
 His name was Anthony and he had nice kind of smile that was both genuine and humble at the same time, like he did n't see it coming and was presently surprised that he was smiling, which only made him smile more. He was n't very tall, but stood as tall as he could. He wore regular black rectangular glasses that framed his hazel eyes which were more green than brown and more gold than green. They marveled in the light, commanding the attention whenever someone spoke to him. He talked fast. Almost too fast to be understood, yet instead of being a deterrent, his quickness made him only more intriguing. His face was square and strong and he never seemed out of place no matter who he was talking to. 
 
 The night went by quicker than I anticipated and when it was over I reached out my arm to say goodbye, not knowing what to expect when my fingers made contact with his. 
 
 In a flash, mine and his histories crossed paths and mingled together, forming into one big story. In an instant I saw all of his pain and sorrow, his struggles and the moments when he was closest to breaking, to shattering, to dissolving into non-existence. And he saw mine. When the moment was over, I looked at him, still smiling and was amazed that one person could live with that kind of past and still smile as deeply as he did. 
 
 I think we both realized that we would make great friends in that instant moment of recognition, but we only were in each other's company for the night. So we said goodbye. But sometimes, when I'm alone and when my mind is calm, I think of him and wonder if he's thinking of me too.
