About

Never talk to strangers. Never, especially, talk to strangers with candy. Or strangers with puppies. Or strangers with big, windowless vans they call “you’re mommy told me to pick you up from school today.”

Never talk to a stranger, but what if a stranger talks to you? Growing up, I was admonished to “never talk to strangers,”  and so I would ignore them. Oftentimes, I would get into trouble for ignoring them– “Don’t be rude to the kind old man at church, Misty. He’s the preacher.” It was quite vexing.

Over the years, though, I have discovered that for whatever reason, strangers like me. Maybe it’s because I look like a nice person; maybe it’s a hormone thing. Who knows? But it is stories like–

“My car is broken. It has a breathalyzer on it. I have a hard time getting it to start in the middle of the day. I can’t help it, I work in a bar.”

–that make me want to ask, why are you telling me this? But instead of actually saying that out loud, I just smile and nod and wait until I get home to email the stranger’s story to virtually everyone I can think of, usually at one in the morning.

My friends have started to complain. Therefore, in order to best channel my creative energy, while giving each of you the opportunity to read these stories at your own leisure, M.J. and My Quest to Save the Rainforest proudly present:

Talks to Strangers

[I'll have to qualify this: This is a work in progress, updated occasionally, probably once a week, or whenever I have something to tell that's worth telling.]