you're a stranger, so am i.

often when i take bus rides, i get this little excitement regarding the people that are on it. after validating my ticket and if i'm lucky enough to find an empty seat, my favorite part of the ride is scanning through the people inside it. ones infront of me, ones next to me. the ones that are standing, the ones that are talking. its amazing and its interesting with every little detail that somehow reflects a bit of everyones character and personality.

the last time i met peggy, she challenged me. speak to a stranger at least one person a day. talking to strangers are easy. picking the right one to talk to, thats another different story. we are all picky in that sense. and hey, the whole first impression and being judgmental comes right in. like any normal human being, whenever i'm alone, i'd strike up a conversation with a stranger I see whom at the first glance at me, they smile.

i usually have the locals staring at me. might be the thick eye liner, might be of the headgear i have on my head, might be that i forgot to zip my pants whatever, but not the usual friendly stare, but a stare that normally reads, ' you - look - so - UN-human - what -ARE- you ' kind. people are curious, so i let them stare and let out a smile.

today, the person i talked to was from Thailand. She had this big smile on her very cute small face and that just made her appearance so very bright and i couldnt help but to smile and giggle back at the sight of it. she has been in Adelaide for only two months but lived in Sydney for a few years before. her accent was pretty hard to catch, but she was cute.

i had city and color playing in my left ear as she was sitting on my right. scared that i would miss her words, i put my player on pause, and that got me thinking of how genuinely sincere that feeling was. to really want to listen instead of being told to listen.

and i guess, thats, the power of a stranger.