Wandering

My mind wanders.
Not in the willy-nilly way that the absent minded professor's mind wanders, or the way your elderly Aunt's mind wanders.
No.
My mind wanders the surface thoughts of those in physical proximity.
It causes me to say what they are thinking a half second before it gets out of their mouths - if I know them and am having a conversation with them.
It makes me know that the sincerity on that guy's face is a sham - as he offers his wares for sale.
And that the woman who seems to be waiting on me fully focused is actually trying to remember when her last period started and wondering if her morning nausea is from the party last night or if she might be pregnant.
My mind wanders and I have trouble sometimes blocking those errant surface thoughts, they bob and weave like trash on the surface of a stream. My stream. My consciousness.
It makes me tired and often I must be away from people and their thoughts or I might lose my own sense of me.
It makes me wonder who else has this problem.
So far, I have not met anyone else who is aware of this. But that doesn't mean they aren't out there.