Befriend Your Fellow Stranger

[Corey]

About two nights ago I was walking to my local conviniance store to purchase a 2-liter of Coke at 8:30 pm (My Time). I was approached by a man that looked to be in his middle twenties. He was dressed in a beige trenchcoat, a large green scarf, and other assorted clothing which was obscured by the darkness.

Automatically I thought of being robbed (childhood in a very bad neighborhood has messed with my mind) so I slipped my wallet into my very deep back pockets.

He approached me and asked how I was doing. I told him that I was fine. He then struck up a very good natured conversation with me. We talked about where we were going in life, where we were in school, among other things. I learned he was majoring in meta-physics at a nearby college and often took night-time strolls. About ten minutes later, he said that he had to get going. We said our farewells and went in our respective directions.

I never caught his name, nor he mine, but if I ever were to meet him again I'd definitly treat him to a dinner or a cup of coffee and thank him for giving me an experiance I will remember for the rest of my life.

The moral of this little tale: Don't be afraid of people you don't know. Unless you know so, don't assume they are a bad person. From the look of this man, I would have never talked to him. I now know better.

Has anyone else ever had an experiance like this?

[Lady Macaiodh]

[color=darkblue]I did, the other night. I was way inside the county, where every store is miles apart & it's not a very good place to get stranded. A girl around my age was hitchhiking & I gave her a ride to McDonald's (the only fast food restaurant in all of Powhatan). She didn't seem to have anywhere else to go (with which I can greatly sympathize) & I would have offered her to come to my house if i wasn't living with my parents. She was really nice though. Her name was Ashley. She said she's always walking up & down the highway, so if I ever see her again, I'll give her a ride then, too.[/color]

[Shy]

[size=1]Last July I decided to attend my very first anime convention in Long Beach. Since I had never been there before I had no idea what I was doing, so I asked a lot of questions. Everyone was treating me rudely, and nobody was helping me. Finally got up to the ticket registration booth, and the perosn there explained to me that I had arrived at the convention a few hours too late and they were no longer selling tickets.

This made me really angry; but someone who was nearbye heard my conversation with the ticket seller and started talking to me. He was really helpful in telling me all about the convention, and he even explained how I could sneak past security if I [i]really[/i] wanted to get inside. I never actually tried to, but it was incredibly nice of him to give me all of that information while evryone else was ignoring me.

-Shy[/size]

[Charles]

My experiences with strangers, since I've begun attending a university in a city, aren't too great. Usually, when I leave the campus, others approach me with good manners and act like they're interested in starting a conversation, but in reality, they're only trying to hustle me for money. I become really disappointed when that happens; it bothers me.

So, unfortunately, I can't say that I have many surprising experiences where I learn that I "can't judge a book by its cover." Most strangers who are genuinely interested in speaking to me look presentable.

[Chaos]

I was on the other side of what most of you are talking about. It was one of those odd kind of days where you just don't feel like your normal self, but a positive way. I was feeling very nice today, and I was reading a collection of Far Side [which always puts me in a better mood, regardless of how I currently feel] in Barens and Noble.

It was a quiet Thursday during summer, and this man in his mid-to-late sixties sat down in those nice leather chairs, with a copy of the same collection. We went for about twenty minutes not even looking at each other, and, on an impulse, I looked over to see what page the old man was on. He was about halfway through, whereas I was within thirty pages of finishing. Suddenly, he snaps his head to face me, and asks what exactly was I looking at.

Now, I'm sitting here in my baggy-*** jeans, my hoodie, and my Timberlands. I have a nice fade, and my face is, as usual, monotone. This guy talks to me like I just jacked his wallet. I looked at him, and calmly said, "Sir, please excuse me for prying, but I was just seeing what page you were on. Most people just look at Far Side when they're waiting for a bus or train, and few who do read it understand the sheer genius wit of it."

He looked like I had just talked in ancient Greek, but shook his head once, chuckled, and we began to talk about random topics isolated on Far Side; foreshadowing, the background's importance, stereotypes, puns, idiotcy so dumb it's funny, etc.

Eventually, we began talking more and more about more intellectual topics. We talked of the importance of a united effort on the strengthening of the still-falling stock market, on the fight against terrorism, the moronic display of people in mass groupings, and eventually, I was late for a party because this complete stranger and I were talking about the turmoil of current society.

When I saw the time, I polietly bid him good night, shook his hand, and left, all without asking his name or treating him lesser because I didn't know him.

I saw him again a few weeks later, nodding my head to him as I passed, getting the same in return, and we continued on our way. But I felt a little better after just making that simple nod. Strange how things work out.

[Juu]

[color=ff00cc] [size=1]I've befriended one or two people I had ever met before. ^_^;;

I was just at the movies, and I was waiting my order of curly fries. There was a tall guy standing next to me, and I was by waiting by myself for the food, while the other people I went with were buying tickets, and going to the bathroom. I was already three or five minutes late for my movie, so I kept looking at my cellphone. He just looked over at me, and asked me what movie I was going to watch. So I just replied, "Umm... the Two Towers. This is my seventh time going.". He laughed, and told me he was going to see the same thing, only this was his first time. He began asking me how the movie was, and began telling me how much he enjoyed the first movie.

We got into a pretty nice conversation about Lord of the Rings, and we told each other our names and he took a seat a row in front of me in the theater. I was kinda nervous while I was talking to him, though. ^^; After the movie, we waved to each other, and he took the bus home.[/color] [/size]

[Fall]

I have never had an experience like that, though one in between.

I left my bike outside a shop to go get a drink, I came back out and there was this man dressed all baggy and rough leaning on the wall behind where my bike was.

I there on went to my bike and hopped over the top of so the man knew I was planning on riding it. He then came up to me and asked how I was doing, and we actually had a good talk about BMX freestyling. And he actually kept talking about how much my bike was worth and it being a "nice bike"..

Even though I said I had to go 'cause he gave me the impression he was going to flog it, I though he was a nice man.

[Lady Asphyxia]

[color=darkred]Yes, sort of. People come up and talk to me a lot for some reason - it just happens sometimes. But the one I remember most is when I was in Tin Can Bay [has anyone even heard of that place?]and we were staying in a motel. Anyway, we went out for a swim in the pool, and we struck up a conversation with a guy called Colin. It was muchness full of fun, and so I'm glad I did.[/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Random people talk to me at times, but there are two reasons. It's always either a) they want to know whether I'm male or female (despite all evidence, they still find the need to ask. And they're not even making a joke, they seriously don't know.) or b) They want to know whether I'm a "goth" or a "metalhead". They might have been one or two other reasons, but I was pretty standoffish...[/font][/color]

[Guest cloricus]

DarkOrderKnight you were lucky, the reason people have those images of people is because that is what "bad people" are stereotypically, it's like a safety measure in your brain. As you know all stereotypes don't run true, your evening could have turned out very bad.

As for people coming up to me, I get a very weird mix. All on the net of course, and well in places that are so boring that the net is more of an interesting place... But you meet some very weird people if you know where to go. For example I just found some one very interesting, (yes I am partly using this post to find out if he is here.) his nick is raven. I feel I just feel in to a cult following by finding him. I meet weird people like that all the time and as you found out Dark they are often very nice.

Eps ? [b][i]Don't stalk me Sam...[/i][/b] ...please?

[Cornucopia]

When I was at college, I used to get the same bus home at the same time every night. One week, there was an old lady who would get on my bus every night and ask the driver where it was going. It was always the wrong bus for her, and I just assumed she was a little crazy.

One night, though, we were the only ones at the bus stop, and she started talking to me. My natural instinct was to think ?Oh God, how can I get rid of her?? But she was persistent and introduced herself as Alice. We soon got to talking about The Beatles (one of my favourite bands), and it turned out we both loved John Lennon. It was fascinating to talk to someone who was actually around at the time, and still had a passion for that era without being a boring old hippie.

I was also a bit stressed about college at the time, and we talked about this. When we finally departed (she still got on the wrong bus, though), she had left me reassured and confident about my work.

Funny thing was, after seeing her every day for a week, I never saw her again after we talked. This made me think a lot about destiny, and I even wondered if she was some kind of guardian angel (even though I don?t believe in that kind of stuff).

This was a defining moment for me, as I realised how easy it is to have a positive influence on someone else's life - even a complete stranger. Sometimes, all it takes is a few kind words.

[Guest Watinabe]

I was walking down the street at night to a friends house a couple of montha ago and I still had a couple blocks to go, when a strange looking old man in brown leather jacket and worn pants approached me from behind. I was a little unnerved, but then out of the seemingly dense mood he utterd a very positive HOWDY! and commented that we didn't have any damn snow in december. I chuckled and nodded then agreed it was strange. after that we walked and talked about how the world was going to s*** and laughed a couple more times then I came to a right I needed to take so I said well see ya later and he said have a good night. Later I though he might of been homeless and felt bad so now I look for him when I'm on the bus or walking at night but I've never seen that chrasmatic old man again:( damnit!

[wizard-of-oz]

last time i was walking down the street. someone threw a half full coke at me. thats why i always make snap judgments. i always cross to the other side of the street. and never look away when someone is staring(they think your scared). if only i was as lucky as you.