An unexpected encounter

When an unexpected incident occurs in one's life, is it purely a once-in-a-blue-moon event? Or is there a deeper, hidden meaning waiting to be discovered?
 
Allow me to recount such an encounter which occurred recently.
 
It was a calm evening. Winding down after an exhausting day of lessons, I slumped on the couch in my living room, scrolling through a barrage of social media updates on my phone. Just then, I felt my phone vibrate - it was a call from someone whose number I did not recognise.

"Hello, how are you?" a male voice blurted out without hesitation once I picked up the phone. "I changed my phone number."

I was in a daze, unsure of who the caller might be. From the frank and informal way he spoke, I thought he might be looking for a friend instead, and it was a case of mistaken identity. "Sorry, I think you got the wrong number."

"You're Evangeline, right? Don't you recognise me, from the way I am speaking to you?"

I was scratching my head as to this person's identity. Not wanting to hang up abruptly, I replied, "Sorry, I really don't remember. Who are you? Is there anything I can help you with?"

By then, he sounded exasperated. "Ah nevermind, I'll text you later. I just called to inform you I changed my phone number."

"Alright, goodbye then."

His disappointment was evident, and tugged at my heartstrings - it seemed as though he was someone I ought not to have forgotten. I eagerly awaited his text, wanting to know who he was, but days passed without me receiving it.
 
This encounter left me utterly puzzled. Why did this individual not reveal his identity upfront, like what others would have done? What exactly did I do to have made such a lasting impression, that he would want to reach out to me proactively after a long time?
 
Alarmed by the prospect that my mental faculties were declining at such a young age, I devised a mental exercise for myself: to create a systematic, comprehensive list of every single person I had met at each stage of my life.
 
That exercise was overwhelmingly difficult, and I gave up within minutes.
 
Having experienced multiple transitions between different stages of life, and living in a fast-paced city, meeting dozens of new faces daily, it should come as no surprise that creating such an exhaustive list would be humanly impossible. Besides, what purpose would maintaining such a list serve if I did not have the emotional or physical capacity to maintain meaningful connections with every single person on the list? I reasoned that perhaps it would be better for me to accept that each person has limited space in their "memory banks", and refrain from worrying excessively about these somewhat unusual encounters of mine.
 
It then dawned on me that most of the opportunities I was given to interact with others outside of my usual affinity groups were fleeting and transient. I only had that one chance to leave an impression on them - once-in-a-blue-moon, so to speak. As for individuals in my affinity groups, with the passage of time, it would never be possible to recreate the exact circumstances at the moment in which our interaction occurred. As such, I should not waste every opportunity I have to make a positive impact on another person.
 
Will I be someone worth remembering? What do I want them to remember about me? Am I acting in a manner that reflects a greater purpose to life, rather than simply going through the daily grind?
 
The lingering questions I have from that mysterious encounter currently remain unanswered, but from now on, I shall remind myself that every interaction I have with others may well occur only once in a blue moon. I hope this will inspire us to be a little kinder to each other in our daily interactions in spite of the vagaries of life.
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