walgreens man

I talked with a stranger tonight and I LOVED it.

He was a little buzzed. Our conversation started over Reeses Easter candy. He wanted to know where it was and I told him. Then he was in line behind me at the check out so I mentioned the candy as a conversation starter and it took off from there.

In about 6 minutes I discovered that he is origionally from New York City and had started singing and performing in nightclubs while he was still in high school. He sang for a number of years and then moved to Chicago where he has lived ever since. His birthday is next month and he will be 52... He's been to Dubuque, Iowa for a seminar and ended my unfounded belief that city people are cold, hurried and don't like to talk. (Admittedly, he might have been a little more open to talking since he'd had a few.)

Even with all the awesome stuff I've done/seen this week, in all honestly, talking to him was probably the highlight. Maybe because I did it by myself. It wasn't scheduled or something I was told to do. Or perhaps it was just refreshing.

Sometimes I feel like I live to hear people's stories. I want to know why they do what they do; what has happened to make them into who they are; where have they been and where do they plan to go?

There is so much inside of each person and people long for someone to draw it out. How much do you know about the people in the store with you....? How much do you know about the person you call your Best Friend?