Today I realized that every single person I have ever known was once a stranger to me. Some stayed strangers, some became friends, and some went back to being strangers.
A few weeks ago, my friend and I were driving down the road around sunset. The sky was so beautiful that we had to take photos, so we took some photos at a stoplight. I looked to the right and saw another guy in his car taking photos. He looked at us and ‘angrily’ started mouthing the words “That’s my sunset” and “You can’t take photos of my sunset.” Once the light turned green, we all pulled away. This stranger made us laugh uncontrollably, but we’ll never see him again.
A few months ago, I was having an awful day. I was exhausted and upset about school, and my sister and I went to the store. We went to Walmart because all we needed were a few cheap things, and on our way out, a worker said, “Would you like a sticker?”. I took a sticker and all it was was a yellow smiley face. That sticker from that stranger made my whole day just a little bit better, and I’ll never see him again.
Some people who were once strangers have changed my life. The teachers that have changed my life were once strangers. That one teacher from when I was in first grade and another in sixth grade. One teacher last year, and now his son this year. They’ve all changed my life in ways they don’t even know. Every single one of my friends was a stranger. Some I’m no longer friends with. They’ve all changed my life in different ways, but either way, they’ve been for the better. Someday, I won’t ever see them again. They were all once strangers.
My best friends that I have now were once strangers. I didn’t know who they were, and I had never talked to them. Eventually, I got to know them, and they stopped just being strangers. They went from strangers to some of my best friends. Those people who were once strangers changed my life.
Some of the people who were once my best friends went from strangers to friends and back to strangers. I still know almost everything about most of them. One day, we clicked; the next day, we didn’t. These people that were once strangers changed my life. Maybe not in the ways others did, but they still changed my life. Once, it was negative, but now I’ve realized how positive it was.
Growing up, almost everyone was told, “Don’t talk to strangers.” Of course, nobody should always talk to random people on the street, but if I never talked to strangers, I’d never get to know anyone. Each day, I’m surrounded by strangers. The strangers I’ve talked to might just end up changing my life in some way, shape, or form.
