So I'm trying to be one of those people who sits outside of restaurants and Starbucks, milking my $2 drink for an hour, so I can justify using the company's free wi-fi while I pretend to write. You know, in the hopes that some cute guy will awkwardly sit next to me and say "What are you working on?" And I'll tell him I'm writing a novel, and we'll geek out over the latest books, and he'll offer to buy me another drink so we can stop getting angry stares from the poor high schooler who just wants to close up shop early and go home.
Trying to re-create a cheesy romance movie scene in the midwest is harder than it seems, though. But it's also more fun.
Instead of the cute boy, I got a table full of very talkative black women. What appeared to be the matriarch of the family came over to me and said, "I'm sorry to bother you, but do you like math?" Of course, I'd always done well in math, and even tutored algebra and statistics in college, but obviously as a writer I wouldn't say math is my favorite subject. I told her I did enjoy it, though, and she calls over a younger girl. She was working on stuff that I hadn't touched in well over a year, logs and cos and tans and all that crazyness (actually, now that I think about it, it's probably been over 5 years--I don't recall ever helping my tutees with that stuff in college). I started panicking, thinking, "Oh God, please don't ask me to help."
Maybe that was their original plan, but they quickly changed path, probably sensing that I'd long since shoved that junk out of my brain to make room for new information. The older woman proceeded to offer me a cookie and tell me about how smart the girl was, that she had good grades and was a good student, but was still struggling with this class (I can relate!). Then, just as quickly as she came to my table, she moved on to another woman walking by in some really cute high heels.
What I'm assuming was the younger girl's mother (though she could have been an older sister) quickly took the place of the first woman and continued the conversation about the student for just a little while more before asking what I'd gone to school for. I told her professional writing and she seemed very impressed by that. She said that I had an aura of intelligence about me and wished me luck in my work before returning back to her table, the younger girl following her.
It always amazes me how people can go up to perfect strangers and start up a conversation. I love being a part of these special happenstances. I wish I was brave enough to iniate them. You learn all kinds of interesting things about different kinds of people.
So, my question to you is: Tell me about a unique run-in you've had with a complete stranger.
And my callenge to you: Be the complete stranger to start up a conversation. Most of the time, us loners don't mind an interruption in our work. :)
