A Stranger Interaction

Today while flying to visit a friend, I initiated myself in a familiar yet provoking situation. Upon boarding the plane, I found my set near a window in aisle 15A, locating myself near a middle aged man whom I have never seen or met in my life. As the plane took flight I noticed that the man and myself were reading the same “Sky Mall” magazine. I thumbed and flipped through the thing quickly and found myself laughing at several of the advertisements in the magazine. Articles that others may find interesting and peculiar came across as childish and hysterical to me. As I sat there finishing the magazine, I noticed the stranger to my left laughing continuously. After a moment, I decided to ask the man what he was laughing about. He pointed to an article and photo in the magazine and I chuckled along with him. I than began to think how outlandish it was that I had just interacted with a complete stranger in a unique way because we shared a similar sense of humor. We were both complete strangers; neither of us had ever spoken nor intermingled with one another yet we shared a common similarity. I find myself interacting with people like this everyday. Sometimes it is with my friends, other times my professors, and sometimes even complete strangers on airplanes. I am 19 and have come into contact with thousands of individuals throughout my life and it is fanatical to think about how many people have influenced me in a way that has made me who I am today. Yes, my parents, brother, and friends, have formed me exponentially, but what about the complete strangers I continue shaking hands with or bumping into on a daily basis? The girl at Einstein's that puts cream cheese on my bagel might really like Gossip Girl or that police officer that gave me my parking ticket may enjoy cheeseburgers as much as I do. You just never know, so I have come to realize just this: never miss a chance to engage and meet some one new. I never know what new person God may bring into my life each day, but if I persistently converse with each new individual, then I can take something from each and every day.