Life's moving conveyor belt

Human behavior intrigues me.  This post may just be a series of questions, but it’s something that’s been on my mind lately.  In my previous post, I wrote about how I met an array of people at camp.  I met the types of kids I wouldn’t find at any school I’ve been to.  That got me wondering, do we behave differently around different people.  

I’ve written about my two selves before.  There’s the side of me that is serious, the down-to-business side of me, but there’s also that side of me that my family and my close friends know of.  The side that is lighter, the side that doesn’t care what others think, a.k.a., my more outgoing side.  At camp, even though I was surrounded by people I’d known for barely two weeks, I found my second side manifest with a magnitude it doesn’t even reveal at school with people I’ve known for months.  

I kept wondering why I allowed myself to open up so easily, and also why other people in my camp also were able to open up in ways they were surprised about as well.  On the last day, there was a talent show and one of my friends was indecisive about whether she wanted to perform.  After some thought, she said she would.  I asked her what drew her to that side of the dilemma.  She said, “I’m never gonna see these people again, so it doesn’t matter”.   I’m never gonna see these people again, so it doesn’t matter.  

I wonder whether people really do act differently if they know they’ll never see anyone from a particular crowd/group of people again.  To what extent?  Is it a matter of reputation protection when we choose to show only self one?  Is this why I was able to show self 2 with people whom I barely knew but knew I’d never see again?  I suppose a lot of what is factored into decision making is outcomes.  Perhaps we balance things on a scale in our heads and think, if I do this, I could be temporarily famous, and if I mess up, I know I’ll never see these people again. 

But then, I stopped and thought about that idea of never seeing certain people again.  In school, part of the reason I only show my self 1 is because I know I will encounter this people again.  I realized I was wrong.  I believe in this world, there’s really only one group of people whom most people will see consistently.  Sad as it is, most people whom we meet on the streets, sit next to on the plane, even go to school with, we will never encounter again.  After high school, I will probably never see the majority of the kids in my grade.  We will all be off to different colleges, different jobs, and lead expectedly different lives.  Family, and people who I consider close friends are probably the only people I will ever see consistently in my life.  

That makes me question the morality of the human lifestyle.  We seem to just go through and through with things, especially in the 21st century.  We’re ceaselessly leaving things behind, picking new things up, trying new things out, and then leaving those to pursue new hobbies and likings. The people we meet in our lives are often just the same.  We leave behind old friends and meet new ones.  We work with new people and then move on.  My english teacher this year described life as a moving conveyor belt, where we’re just constantly moving, rarely stopping, all heading towards the ultimate moment in our lives with every passing second.  Perhaps he’s right.