“Don’t talk to strangers.”
There’s one global piece of advice that I think we all remember getting from our parents at an early age. It’s right up there with:
“Don’t do drugs.”
“Don’t talk back.” and
“Look both ways when crossing.”
This is the kind of instruction you get at a very young age and it doesn’t usually come with much explanation. It’s just one of those universal truths that we seem to accept as law for all human beings..
“Don’t talk to strangers, it’s dangerous.” That’s about as far as it ever gets. If you're as lucky as I was, you may have heard "Don't talk to strangers, most people are lovely, some are bad". We don't realise the direct impact we have on the lives of the youth. If a child is brought up on the first ideal - "Don't talk to stranger, it's dangerous" you can see how later in life that same child will find it hard to meet new people, no?
But don't get me wrong.. It’s not really bad advice for a 3-year-old. As they doesn’t have the ability yet to see the bad in people, bless them.. they're just too innocent.
But it’s terrible advice for adults.
Talking to strangers is one of the most important things we can do. Strangers hold the keys to all kinds of knowledge that we want. They help us understand more about people and how we relate to each other by unlocking cultural misunderstandings.
Strangers have so much to offer us, and I think we should go out of our way to talk to more of them. I promise you that every 'stranger' has the answer to at least 1 of your 100s of unanswered questions!
This was my most recent experience with a strange..
On the 16th of January, I went to my guy's house, he wasn't in so I spoke to his flat mate properly for the first time (amazing chat), spoke about about our perceptions on the real meaning of life, our disconnection with nature and each other.
Anyway, left there about.. 7pm (meant to be meeting my boy, Dominic). Went to the bus stop in town, where an older guy (later found out he was 72) was rambling on to his friend slightly erratically about something he couldn't get his head round. He was saying that he one had a friend who was a gardener for 50+ years, who after 10 odd years on the job could tell (not predict, not forecast, TELL) him what the weather was going to be like for a day, sometimes a few days, and he was ALWAYS right. Despite what the "experts" & "professionals" were saying.
I thought to myself "No way is he talking on this subject! I have to manoeuvre my way in to conversation.." and suddenly became a part of their, once, private chat with a laugh. I said, "you're confusion is justified! You shouldn't feel crazy. It's your body's natural discontentment towards life, if we all weren't told about the weather and love with nature, don't you think after TEN years, we, humans, would also be able know what the weather is gonna be?..".
And he just said back "exactly, that is what I mean!" And we began talking.. We spoke for AGES (about an hour), about so many things, I told him to enlighten me because I could see how much he wanted people to listen to him.
I recorded this conversation (voice memo) because I knew I'd obviously tell people about this fabulous man! The man's name was Alan French, he told me a lot of mind-blowing facts about my town. Check this, he also told me that Tarzan was based on a true story, about a boy named Peter the Wild Boy, who was buried in Northchurh which is only 15 minutes from my house, sound unbelievable? Search 'peter the wild boy' yourself!
The last thing that this total strange told me was that that the pub near me called, 'Top of The World' represents the highest point on Earth, Everest, and the road leading up to the actual Mount Everest is called 'Northridge Way', YES.. So is the road leading up to the pub.
I learnt so much from this absolute stranger! And feeling you get after acquiring new valuable knowledge is unbeatable, they do say 'knowledge is power'.
#Talk2a'Stranger' #Brothers&Sisters
Stay tuned and stay blessed!
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