We don't often think of the effect we have on the minds of others because we feel like we don't have an effect on them. But the fact of the matter is that it seems like we do all have an effect on the minds of those around us. Not necessarily always in a profound way. As it's pretty impossible to change everyone's lives profoundly ever day. But often as subtly as planting a memory of our presence in the minds of others. It might even settle there and grow into an idea or a comparison to give or deny someone a chance. And what if just meeting a specific person changes the person you end up marrying? What if your mind was somehow infected with disgust or lit up with hope because of one person? Would you still be able to say it was your choice to begin with? Or would you have to admit that you were influenced? Whatever the answer to those questions, like most great questions, the source of them lies in an event which changed someone's life profoundly. And before your mind wanders into the slums. The underbelly drenched in the absolute gore of the primitive mind, I can assure you, it wasn't sexual in nature. I'm speaking –of course- about the event which transpired on September 22nd 1986. But first… It's a Sunday in Antwerp, Belgium and a family of three is sitting at a table on a terrace of one of the many cafés in a place no one who spoke English could ever pronounce right. Groenplaats. The father seems distracted by the passing men and women who have all the typical accessories of a tourist. While the mother sits there, watching her husband and her child one at a time. Like clockwork. She's protective of both of them which shows when someone passes them to take a seat or comes near. Because when that happens, you can see her jump up ever so slightly from her chair. Not unlike the lioness protecting her cub. All the while, the child seems to care about nothing but the pigeons fluttering and the brightly colored clothing and vehicles which passed. The rest was irrelevant to him. One could become jealous of such a simple existence. Surprisingly though, the father did not stay idle for long and started a conversation about the people who had passed just seconds ago. Japanese, he thought. Because of the excessive use of cameras. It is worth noting though that excessive to him meant exceeding two pictures of the same general area. But his wife smiled and nodded as he ranted on. Oh yes. They were perfectly mundane. When they were out in the open. But the odd thing was that when they finally did return to their home, not far from where they had just had a drink - in an apartment on the second floor of a giant complex – they changed. Their child became more active and demanded attention every few minutes. The father became obsessed with little details. Especially around and on his desk. But the mother… Well, she became a predator in every sense of the word. Every bug was squashed, every tool carefully placed and every piece of food evenly distributed. An urban predator. This wasn't really as shocking as what happened once the father moved aside and she chose her favorite show. Not the family show you'd expect, nor the romantic short-story episode of some or other show. No. She watched gory operations with a disturbing eye for detail and after that the work of a serial killer. It seemed like she was learning from them. The doctor and the killer. Needless to say the father quickly distanced himself from his loving wife and took his child to the child's room to sleep. She was scary when she was like this, with that mischievous grin and glint in her eyes which betrayed a desire to be able to do what those men did. But when the shows ended, she usually found a more productive way to let go of that desire. She chopped and cut the meat for the following day's dinner. And when that was done, she became loving and charming again. At least until she had to go to sleep. Your mind has wandered again, into the abyss. But no. She slept and he slept. And though they slept in the same bed, the care for their child and the demands their jobs made prevented them from doing anything but sleep. And this had lasted for 4 years. So they'd gotten used to the inaction. The wife and mother's passion grew within. As for the husband and father, only his impatience with chaos grew. And as for all things which grow and evolve, these qualities reached an inevitable climax. It's Monday and the day of the event. But before we move on to the actual occurrence, let's take a look at how we got there. Our couple woke up and kissed each other good morning followed by the usual morning wash-up. She went in first and came out half-dressed so she could start making breakfast. Afterwards, he went in and came out fully dressed to wake up their son who –as you would expect from a small child- was still asleep and well. The husband took on his role of loving father and gently woke his son by opening the blinds, stroking his son's head and wishing him a good morning while asking him to get up. With everyone awake, the picture seemed perfect. Until their little darling son nodded off at the breakfast table. Not only spilling his drink, but his cereal as well. Normally, this would not have been a problem, but today it spelled disaster. The father went mad with anger over this deviation from the daily protocol, not to mention the mess. He threw the bowl at the first wall he could throw it at. And as the bowl shattered, a fragment of it stabbed the mother's foot. She screamed in pain and at the father. Of course, the child could not be left out of this as he was the cause of it all according to his parents. So the son got slapped and mother's predatory frenzy was ignited. She yelled and threw her arms around wildly as she did so. Not understanding why, the father began to yell back. And so the child began to cry loudly and uncontrollably. The mother wanted nothing more than console her child and get her husband to calm down but neither seemed to work. And so she snapped. She took the glasses, bowls and plates from the table and put them in the dishwasher. It was a warning the father took less than seriously as he went to work rather than resolve the issue. The loving mother remained angry and commanded her child to get ready for school. Which he did. In the hopes his mother would become less angry. Which she, unfortunately did not. She practically threw her son out of the car when they reached the school. And when the boy stuck his head through the car window for a loving mother's kiss, he instead got an "I'm late. Go!". She drove off as quickly as her car and the traffic lights would allow her, leaving behind her broken-hearted son to fend for himself. Temporarily. Maybe. She was thinking about it. But what she thought about more, was the chaotic morning ritual and insensitive husband who had opted to leave rather than talk this out. After a while, she reached her workplace where she greeted her colleagues with short nods and hand gestures before sitting down at her desk. She was an accountant and hoped for a day of mundane work without complications. But this really wasn't her day. Question after question was fired at her from every side to disturb her work. Today, of all days. Did they not know what she'd been through. Had they collectively decided to forget how to do their jobs today or had they always been this stupid? She didn't know. And what was worse, she couldn't escape it. Her colleagues kept coming at her with more questions. Until finally her face went red, her hands ran through her hair and a deep sigh caused her to let out a few tears. And when she looked up, more questions came. "Are you okay?" "Is everything alright?" "Do you need a break?" ENOUGH! She burst out and yelled across the offices. And when her boss came in to ask her what was going on, he was promptly met by a stapler and a pair of scissors as she repeated her one-word protest. Enough. She was taking the day off because there had been some personal issues which were really ruining her day. And if anyone had a problem with that, they could go and leap from the tallest building. Preferably without hesitation and for the love of god, without question. A long drive later, she was home. She sat down, stood up, walked around, stretched and sat back down again. She was restless. And in this restlessness, she took her bag and went for a walk down one of the many shopping streets in Antwerp. Some food stores she couldn't be interested in followed by clothing stores which really did nothing but make her think about the crazy people who wore those things. And after a few more shops and restaurants she didn't quite pay attention to, she was shocked when a stranger touched her arm. It was a foreign man of average height and he seemed ordinary in every way. Except for when he spoke. Because there was a calm about him as he spoke about feeling her murderous rage which had spawned from accident. He told her he knew a trick that might help her understand. She agreed to let him perform this so-called trick and the man asked her four questions. He asked for a number, a man's name a favorite flower and a favorite color. Then he said he was able to tell her everything about her personality and future through these simple things. Amused by the arrogance of the man, she asked to hear these claims made true. And so, with relative ease, he did just that. He described her protective nature, her passion, her rage and her love. Then he described her true love. The man she was with now. But he would have to work through his own issues. And finally he told her about her future using the flower and color she'd said to him earlier. Both shocked and amazed, she asked the man how he did this. But the man refused a straight answer and proceeded to ask for money. And when she refused to pay him the amount he was asking for, he went silent. She offered him a smaller amount as a token of gratitude, but the man just smiled politely, shook his head and took out a bead from his pocket. Then, he handed her this bead and told her to take it and remember his words. And if these predictions came true and she was to meet him again he asked only to consider a small tribute. She nodded and stood there watching as the man, with his big smile wandered off. And when - after a few seconds – the man was finally out of view, she noticed that her anger and frustration had gone. She was calm and happy. If or not this was because of this chance encounter, she didn't know. But she knew she had changed from angry and frustrated as she was to calm and happy. Seemingly without effort and mostly thanks to a random stranger. Or at least, this was what she had decided for herself. The strange man had taken her emotions and changed them.