Bringing out the Unknown

You're going to Olive Garden. There's a guy at the front who introduces himself as Jake, hands you a menu and shows you to your table. He gives you a smile and leaves. 

Your waitress comes to your table, introduces herself as Clara, gets your drink order and leaves. 

You never see them again. All you classify them as is what you've seen the as. The host. The waitress. All you see of them is that smile they have to wear to keep their job and never remember to think what their lives might be like. That they have a life beyond serving you pasta and salad. 

This is what our job is as writers, right? To show their stories. To take one unknown face in the crowd and elaborate, to show their pasts, their fears, their loves, their family. That's our job. 

Next time you go out, look at people, observe. For writing, but not merely for it. Genuinely ask how they're doing. Listen. Their stories deserve to be noticed. Their stories deserve to be written. They deserve to know that someone notices.