"Wow, that's kinda sad. Light from X traveled over Y kilometers, only to be stopped a meter short of a meter past where it was stopped... (aka only to be stopped where it stopped)"
When in the perspective of "Photons do not have a destination in mind when they are emitted", then it is rather hard to be saddened if a photon does not reach an arbitrary location in the line its path projects if extended.
Perhaps this feeling is better explored in a field where the destinations are assigned before they are met. If I make an economic model it can match reality, deviate by a negligible amount, deviate by a small but non negligible amount, or deviate by a lot. All non negligible deviations are significant but one model was almost right despite still being wrong (that same "almost but not" trait you were ascribing to the photons).
