The Unlikely Stranger

I have been going through and archiving some old journal entries (it's nearly 2am, what else would I be doing?). I am having a lot of fun reading about this person I used to be nearly nine years ago. I've forgotten much of the events that had taken place and it's been quite enjoyable to reminisce.

Anyway, I came across this entry from 2003 that I had completely forgotten about. And oddly enough, I really needed to read this again as I have been having some very bad days indeed.

I would like to share it with all of you. I don't know whatever happened to this man, but he certainly made an impact on me. So whoever you are, if you're out there, thank you.

Without further ado...

The Unlikely Stranger

I had so far been having a terrible morning today and was feeling very stressed and angry. I was all alone and busy as hell. The phone never stopped ringing and customer after customer kept walking in. And then a man stopped in to inquire about an eyeglass accessory (which we no longer carried). He was an elderly gentleman, rather on the plump side and he wore the strangest hat. It was like a baseball cap, but square and it was colored an array of splattered and mixed up colors. Although I could plainly see he was quite old, he had a youngness in his face and his tone was quite warm when he spoke. His presence was instantly calming.

I apologized to him for not having the item he was looking for, as he told me he had driven all the way from downtown. He then replied by saying he didn't think I was sorry at all.

"Excuse me", I said.

"Well, if you were really sorry you'd look like this" and he proceeded to stick his bottom lip out in the pouty way a toddler does and to wrinkle his forehead in a worrisome fashion. I giggled, and mimicked his face as best I could and apologized again.

"Much better", he said and smiled at me most kindly and with a twinkle in his eyes. He proceeded to tell me a few other jokes, and told me that when he was young he was one of the comic writers for Red Skelton.

We chatted a bit more about his Red Skelton days, and then he paused and asked,
"Are you a serious person?"

"Well", I replied, "Sometimes....I guess....I haven't really thought about it."

"I want you to listen carefully", he told me, "this is important. And I want you to remember this, because you may never see me again. Don't ever be serious. Laugh because you're lovely when you laugh. And the world laughs with you."

I didn't really have a response to that. Because the truth of the matter is that I am too serious. I let stupid people get to me and I get upset about trivial things like traffic and such. In fact, 30 seconds before he walked in the door I was in a huff about my chaotic day. I stopped, and pondered on this for a moment. Since the man had walked in, he had cheered me up considerably with his jovial nature.

"I will remember that", I told the man. And I meant it. "Thank you". Something told me this was no chance encounter with just another stranger today.

(He added that the only place it was okay to be serious was in the bathroom.)

The man then told me lean close to him, and I did, thinking he wanted to whisper something perhaps. The then took his finger and stroked it across my cheek. Normally I'd be put off by a customer wanting to touch me, especially on my face, but this didn't bother me today. Not with this man. He then took his finger and tasted it in his mouth. "Yup", he said with a grin, "you're sweet".

At this I just had to laugh. I had never had anyone "taste" me before, let alone anyone elderly. He was just so endearing and adorable I had to laugh. And he laughed with me.

He then said he would be going on his way. He said he didn't know if he'd be seeing me again, but told me I should take care of myself. I told him to do the same and to please stop in again if he was ever in the neighborhood. He said he would. I wondered why he kept saying he may not see me again. Was it just that he didn't get up here much? Or was he trying to tell me he was not expecting to live much longer? I didn't know, and I didn't ask....I really don't know how to ask something like that politely. But what he said really touched me, and the manner of kindness he showed me...a perfect stranger...warmed my heart considerably.

As he walked out the door, I waved to him and realized that I never asked him his name. I wouldn't know it until later on that day, but he left a profound mark on me. I found myself letting crude and unpolished comments from customers roll of my back for the rest of the day. On lunch I was stuck in a traffic jam that would normally have me tightening my grip on the steering wheel, tensing all my muscles and swearing like a trucker, but I kept thinking back to what the man had told me and just sang louder to the music in my car. It turned out to be a good day after all.