Talking to strangers seems natural to me and it's helped me when I need to interview someone or take a poll. I'm not a snob about it. I talk to people from all walks of life. I wasn't always at ease like this but I think it started when I was in sales and I grew in confidence also when I went back to college and loved classroom discussions. Walking my dog, I've been part of many conversations that start on the basis of dogs and expand out.
In recent weeks I've had a number of encounters that left me feeling personally "What Problems Do I Have?'
First there was the lady I met in a thrift store. I'm not really into thrift stores like some people are. I rarely go to them but I like to find art supplies in them. There was a woman looking through clothes and holding dresses up to her body. She asked me what I thought of a dress and we got to talking. Soon the conversation went like this.
"Do you notice that I'm pregnant? Five months. And I'm 38 years old."
"Yes you are!" I said, noticing her prominent belly.
"I had a bad day yesterday. I went to the hospital. They heard no heart beat. My baby's dead."
The woman threw her arms around me hugged me and began to weep, huge tears running down her face.
I hugged her back and asked God to protect her.
I wondered where the father was.
She needed to be held and to cry.
"They weren't nice about it. They didn't know I lost another baby just six months ago. They told me to go home and wait to miscarry. But I think I felt something this morning - a flutter. Maybe the test was wrong."
***
I was hot and tired. I had my dog with me on the bus in her wheeled carrier that's like a suitcase. The air was polluted by the fires. I was having trouble breathing. I'd taken her into an air-conditioned office with me for the day. I was so allergy sick I was dull. I wasn't looking forward to sticking to the mattress all night. We need a HEALTHY and HAPPY living environment, I was thinking. We needed that Yesterday!
The driver said, "You've got to have FAITH in God."
I said, "I can only try to have faith."
She said, "No you must TRUST God, You must BELIEVE. You must KNOW that he's going to come through for you."
I simply cannot make myself think or feel this way. I need proof. My ideas about God are that there is this Intelligence to the Universe but I don't think He cares so much about me, even if i do things His way. So I didn't lie to her. But I didn't want to put her much stronger spirituality through any tests.
Then she said, "I've got a situation. There's just me and my two kids. My husband disappeared months ago. He flew into Atlanta. He went to Tennessee. The last anyone saw him. he was there. Me and the kids - we have dreams of him. I KNOW he is alive. I KNOW he is out there."
I don't know that he's not.
I've seen too many TV shows.
"Have you done everything?
"Yes, on TV, everything!"
A few days later I waited for this particular bus driver to go past, even though I wasn't getting on.
I handed her a note that said, "David Paulidis Missing 411." "Look this guy up on the Internet - on YouTube - Don't Freak! - Big Foot I almost whispered. He's an ex cop and maybe he can make sure for you that they did everything right in the investigation."
She took the note.
And I have not seen her driving that bus since.
***
She got told about the huge number of photocopies she was making and that her copies seemed to be jamming the printer. She was a lady with obviously dyed hair and clothes 10 (or more) years too young for her. She meant to be nice. She offered to bring her own paper. The place closed and so we headed out the door at the same time. She was in there looking for work. Verbally she gave me her resume. She had done a lot of physical labor - painting. I tried to relate with a story about how I once hung wallpaper - three clients before I quit. I didn't know anyone hiring. I respected that she'd once contracted with a huge apartment building. She told me she used a toothbrush on the light switches.
"You need a ride home?" she asked.
"Well... I only have a half hour walk and it is a beautiful day. I was going to stop and get my dog some food at the market."
"Get in. I'll drive you there."
So I did get into the car she was living in. Not obviously. She drove me first to check in with her friend living in his van. In the five minutes to the market, told me tomorrow was going to be an even better day.
Her boyfriend was coming out of prison.
***
All three of these people are muses, each in their own way, and not on purpose. But don't judge me on how or why.
C 2018 Christine Trzyna
