Stranger Love

I recently came across the slogan "Stranger Danger", teaching children that they are not to fellowship or much less interact with strangers. That phrase may have meant something to me in elementary school, but it does not mean anything to me anymore. Strangers are not to be feared; they are to be embraced. Strangers cannot hurt; they can heal. Strangers do more for me than I realized. I don't believe in "Stranger Danger"; I believe in the power of "Stranger Love."
As we approached each other on the sidewalk, he caught my eye and stopped me. "If you can make a woman smile within five seconds of meeting her, you've got 'er," the stranger said, smiling with a twinkle in his eyes. He was a black man, dressed in what looked like to be work-out clothes. He was clean. He was definitely a jovial man, possessing an apparent charm. His statement inevitably made me smile. The stranger went into talking about gifts: "You know, I give you a gift, you give me a gift and give it to someone else, until everyone in the world has a gift of some sort." I now recognized him as a homeless man. I then quickly understood he wanted money. He held out a ring. I refused his offer because I had no cash to give him in return. "Never refuse gifts from strangers," the man replied. "You never know, it could be valuable." He held out the ring again. I accepted it. I did end up giving him a gift card; and he, noticing the camera in my hand, let me capture a photograph of him. He shook my hand, telling me his name was Tex. Before we went our separate ways, Tex said, "Smile…it looks good on you."
As an aspiring street photographer, I meet many strangers and ma therefore constantly reminded of the impact of stranger love. I believe there are three aspects of stranger love. The first being commonalities that strangers possess. Although differences abound, commonalities prevail. Tex and I were both wandering the streets, seeking something…wanting something. He was homeless; I had also subjected myself to being "voluntarily temporarily homeless" just for the afternoon, as an escape of sorts. Those two commonalities were the most prominent between us. With commonalities bring acceptance, the second aspect of stranger love. Even though Tex didn't know me, hence his status of "stranger", he accepted me, and I accepted him. We didn't need to know why the other was seeking; we didn't need to know what the other was searching for. We accepted each other's commonalities. We also accepted each other's differences. We were going separate ways on the street, but met in the middle, finding common ground—literally. He is a man. I am a woman. He is black. I am white. He is older. I am youthful. He has no home. I have a place to call my own. We had many differences. We were clearly mostly opposites. But because of the presence of stranger love, we were able to accept one another's differences. And not only accept them, but embrace them—love them. You see, stranger love is very much a process: the initial meeting(Or meet cute, as I like to call it), seeing the differences, discovering the commonalities, embracing both, and our final aspect: helping, offering aide. In my experience with Tex, the help/aide offered was very apparent. We exchanged gifts, if you will. I gave him a gift card; he gave me a ring, a photograph, a smile, and a good story. He gave me much more it seems. He was in need physically. I was in need emotionally. We recognized each other's needs and tended to those needs by giving gifts.
It isn't just material gifts that are given during the act of stranger love. Stranger love keeps on giving. It keeps on helping. Ever since my experience with Tex, I look for every opportunity of give stranger love. I seek out needy people and offer aide. I give them stranger love. Like when I helped the old lady onto the bus. Like when I gave my lunch to the man on the bench. Like when I carried that old man's groceries to his car. Like when I listened to the Veteran's story of war and death and sadness. They give stranger love right back too. Like the man who hugged me because I am a "good girl." Like the woman who helped me when my car broke down. Like the old man who encouraged me to never give up. Like the woman in the park who read my story and loved it. In all of these instances, stranger love followed the same process: finding commonalities, embracing both commonalities and differences, and finally, recognizing the needs and meeting them. This process happens in just a few fleeting moments, but the effects of stranger love last a lifetime.