“It’s something about your face I think. And you tend to smile a lot.” I was telling a friend about a recent encounter I had with a stranger in the city. I am often approached in situations where, I think at least, I’m not doing anything but existing. I’m the person who gets stopped and asked if I can take the couples’ picture in front of NAME OF LANDMARK HERE. In most cases I don’t mind. I like to be friendly and helpful if I can. Just a few weeks ago I was out on a walk and I passed by a house where a woman was parked on the street, struggling to unload bags of mulch from her trunk.
For me, part of staying curious is connecting with others while respecting boundaries. As a result, I have random encounters with people all the time.
Here's one: I used to ride a commuter train to work and would see this older gentleman (it turns out he was in his 80s) accompanying his younger (I assumed) spouse from our stop in the suburbs each morning. Eventually I decided to walk up and engage in some small talk, because the journalist part of me wanted to know their story.
As it turned out, they had just moved to the DC area from New Orleans, where Ed had been the editor of the Times-Picayune and later a journalism professor at the University of New Orleans. He also had been a bureau chief for the AP in the 1960s and covered JFK's assassination.
It turns out his wife Renee, whom he had met at the newspaper, was 25 years younger. Both were divorced, and they started dating. She got a job in Alexandria after they married and he moved here with her, taking a job sorting mail in her office at the age of 80 and carrying his little lunchbox every day on the train. I later introduced them to a friend of mine who had grown up in New Orleans, and we continued to stay in touch. Ed died at 91 in 2015 and Renee moved back to New Orleans; I hope to see her when I'm there next week.
Wow!!! That is incredible, Glenn! What an awesome encounter that led to an even more beautiful outcome. This kind of convivial connection is usually the norm, I’ve found. Boundaries are always acceptable and usually respected. It’s nice when that kind of approachability becomes something rather meaningful. Thanks for sharing this!
My wife constantly gets approached by people in public, too. She's always telling me about random conversations she has with strangers at the store or wherever. And yeah, she gets her share of dude's being overly friendly.
I rarely get accosted in public. I assume I have resting scowl face, probably because I'm out in public.
Yeah..my husband is always: How do you meet these people?! And I always respond: THEY FIND ME!!! It’s about 99% cool….and the exception slips through here and there. Work that scowl face! I would give it a shot, but probably get stopped with a “Hey, are you okay?” :)
The only time I get approached is at work when I'm in uniform, and it's always, "um, do you work here?" as if there was any other reason someone would be in uniform at an airport.
(Please tell me there are no other reasons).
More importantly, the rose gardens look amazing! There is one in Portland, and it is a really good smelling bit of wonderland that overlooks the city.
It must take you every ounce of restraint not to say, “Sorry. Just headed to my stripper-gram job.” 😉 That’s awesome there is a rose garden for you in town! So impressive when they are all collected like that; I bet it’s fierce competition to land that gig!
I try to remember that people are out of their element, and mostly just want to get where they're going (or get out of there and go home), but sometimes they make it really hard.
You have a great attitude about it and probably why you’ve thrived in that career for so long. I feel like the airport is one of those places where there should be signs every six or seven feet: “Everyone has some place to be, is tired, hungry, over it; SO LETS ALL BE FONZI!” And they would have graphics of those characters from the diner scene in Pulp Fiction. Related: is Big Airport hiring for an Ideas Fella? 😉
I love this and once again I can relate totally my friend! Your instincts were so good Sheils. I mean you told him you were married and still he was hoping you would go with him to this Vietnamese Memorial, jeez Louise!
I was once approached by someone who was nice and friendly and it turned out he was just trying to recruit me to Scientology. So you never know, maybe your guy had a bunch of L Ron Hubbard books in his 🎒!
HAAA!! Aww thanks Marmi!! Sometimes being a girl out there is just a lot…you know? I bet there were Scientology books in that guy’s pack..and maybe a human foot! WHO KNOWS? But you know who else thought feet were rad? Mary Magdalene. She was Jesus’ bestie. 😉
We Saggs get approached A LOT. If we go into a social event, we can be more guarded (I have a Substack meetup this coming Friday I'm a little wary about, but what the heck. The worst it can be is tedious and I can handle that for an hour)...anyway, I loved this story because it felt like something anybody is experiencing these days. People seem more open mostly because so many of us are lonely. Anyway, good post, She! MM
Thanks my friend! You’re right..and typically Saggs are fairly outgoing or don’t mind jumping into the spotlight. It’s good to be open to people in general I think—great opportunities for inspiration, connection, curiosity (!). At the same time, I feel my limits. Usually those are respected…usually :) Hydrate and ground yourself for Friday! :)
EARL! Yes. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." said Juliet. And why not Earl? Looking at your glorious photo "I live here now", I can smell that soft pink fragrance as if it were right here under my nose. Olfactory memory is very powerful. Thank you, Sheila.
Thanks Sharron! The rose garden was utter magic! It’s small, but wow..packed a punch. I had known about it for a long time, but finally got around to experiencing it. I wasn’t the only one with snout in bloom..that’s for sure! :)
For me, part of staying curious is connecting with others while respecting boundaries. As a result, I have random encounters with people all the time.
Here's one: I used to ride a commuter train to work and would see this older gentleman (it turns out he was in his 80s) accompanying his younger (I assumed) spouse from our stop in the suburbs each morning. Eventually I decided to walk up and engage in some small talk, because the journalist part of me wanted to know their story.
As it turned out, they had just moved to the DC area from New Orleans, where Ed had been the editor of the Times-Picayune and later a journalism professor at the University of New Orleans. He also had been a bureau chief for the AP in the 1960s and covered JFK's assassination.
It turns out his wife Renee, whom he had met at the newspaper, was 25 years younger. Both were divorced, and they started dating. She got a job in Alexandria after they married and he moved here with her, taking a job sorting mail in her office at the age of 80 and carrying his little lunchbox every day on the train. I later introduced them to a friend of mine who had grown up in New Orleans, and we continued to stay in touch. Ed died at 91 in 2015 and Renee moved back to New Orleans; I hope to see her when I'm there next week.
Wow!!! That is incredible, Glenn! What an awesome encounter that led to an even more beautiful outcome. This kind of convivial connection is usually the norm, I’ve found. Boundaries are always acceptable and usually respected. It’s nice when that kind of approachability becomes something rather meaningful. Thanks for sharing this!
My wife constantly gets approached by people in public, too. She's always telling me about random conversations she has with strangers at the store or wherever. And yeah, she gets her share of dude's being overly friendly.
I rarely get accosted in public. I assume I have resting scowl face, probably because I'm out in public.
Yeah..my husband is always: How do you meet these people?! And I always respond: THEY FIND ME!!! It’s about 99% cool….and the exception slips through here and there. Work that scowl face! I would give it a shot, but probably get stopped with a “Hey, are you okay?” :)
The only time I get approached is at work when I'm in uniform, and it's always, "um, do you work here?" as if there was any other reason someone would be in uniform at an airport.
(Please tell me there are no other reasons).
More importantly, the rose gardens look amazing! There is one in Portland, and it is a really good smelling bit of wonderland that overlooks the city.
It must take you every ounce of restraint not to say, “Sorry. Just headed to my stripper-gram job.” 😉 That’s awesome there is a rose garden for you in town! So impressive when they are all collected like that; I bet it’s fierce competition to land that gig!
I try to remember that people are out of their element, and mostly just want to get where they're going (or get out of there and go home), but sometimes they make it really hard.
You have a great attitude about it and probably why you’ve thrived in that career for so long. I feel like the airport is one of those places where there should be signs every six or seven feet: “Everyone has some place to be, is tired, hungry, over it; SO LETS ALL BE FONZI!” And they would have graphics of those characters from the diner scene in Pulp Fiction. Related: is Big Airport hiring for an Ideas Fella? 😉
I love this and once again I can relate totally my friend! Your instincts were so good Sheils. I mean you told him you were married and still he was hoping you would go with him to this Vietnamese Memorial, jeez Louise!
I was once approached by someone who was nice and friendly and it turned out he was just trying to recruit me to Scientology. So you never know, maybe your guy had a bunch of L Ron Hubbard books in his 🎒!
HAAA!! Aww thanks Marmi!! Sometimes being a girl out there is just a lot…you know? I bet there were Scientology books in that guy’s pack..and maybe a human foot! WHO KNOWS? But you know who else thought feet were rad? Mary Magdalene. She was Jesus’ bestie. 😉
I like the names of the roses :)
Thanks Shital! They are enormously inventive. Seeing all the varieties was pretty incredible.
We Saggs get approached A LOT. If we go into a social event, we can be more guarded (I have a Substack meetup this coming Friday I'm a little wary about, but what the heck. The worst it can be is tedious and I can handle that for an hour)...anyway, I loved this story because it felt like something anybody is experiencing these days. People seem more open mostly because so many of us are lonely. Anyway, good post, She! MM
Thanks my friend! You’re right..and typically Saggs are fairly outgoing or don’t mind jumping into the spotlight. It’s good to be open to people in general I think—great opportunities for inspiration, connection, curiosity (!). At the same time, I feel my limits. Usually those are respected…usually :) Hydrate and ground yourself for Friday! :)
EARL! Yes. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." said Juliet. And why not Earl? Looking at your glorious photo "I live here now", I can smell that soft pink fragrance as if it were right here under my nose. Olfactory memory is very powerful. Thank you, Sheila.
Thanks Sharron! The rose garden was utter magic! It’s small, but wow..packed a punch. I had known about it for a long time, but finally got around to experiencing it. I wasn’t the only one with snout in bloom..that’s for sure! :)