A stranger is not required to be an out lander. The transient brunette on the bus may just actually be someone worth striking up a conversation with making the rancid bus smells less potent. Or the gentlemen dressed in a fur coat and a white wig running through the parking lot at 8 am in fish nets could teach you something. Point being: we are all in this together. The drifter can easily become the native to your life.
On my flight back to the city this week, I was sat in THAT seat on the plane. The "B" one that rests between A and C meaning little to no bathroom escapes and twice the amount of conversation. I was fortunate to have two outspoken gentlemen on either side who carried the conversation the entire flight south. According to my muted headphones (sneaky aren't I?), one of the men was from the middle east and the other from Chicago. They were all about "the business." While taxiing, they got to know one an other's current stock worth and car key make. Once this was established (1500 ft. in the air... seat belt lights off) they began to discuss sports. The voice fluctuation stayed relatively moderate and continued over to cameras, banking, colleges, politics, stock reports and back to sports again. The captain announces we will be landing shortly and the true brawl erupts: one man had a iPad,the other a HP laptop. The discussion of Macintosh versus PC climaxed to a head-on clash. The argument over what was better, the life span and clarity of a product, left the two men in absolute silence. It became very clear neither respected the other now that they stepped out of the computer closet. I had to sip my cola to keep myself from laughing at their technology war. Asides from a comical 90 minute trip, I would give them a blue ribbon for getting to know each other. Maybe they don't go home as friends or prospective business partners, but they sure as hell don't go home as strangers.
I eat kale salad. More specifically, Whole Foods kale salad. It has to be one of the most succulent prepared dishes of pure nutrients that makes carnivores consider green. I recently had an encounter at the kale spot in the salad bar line. Reaching for my portion my reach was greeted at the tongs by a male. He too was seeking the herbaceous plant. As we collided with our hungry eyes we decided to laugh about it and say hello. When consuming that same salad, I met another stranger at the dining table that became an acquaintance after a hour long talk about photography and genetic research. One expensive salad and two encounters that I am still thinking about 72 hours later. It was not the kale that was creating dialogue- it was the absence of withdrawal.
Your steps take you in a direction for purpose. Consider that the people around you have a similar purpose. Maybe it is simply to breathe or quite possibly become your life long companion. Look around you; The time gifted to a stranger is greater than any iPhone application or organically washed lettuce.
No comments:
Post a Comment