The Company of Strangers

You never really appreciate the weekend you've had until you get back into the swing of things on Monday, and sit at your desk all stiff, and just a whiff memory of the weekend is enough to put a smile on your face, add some jolt to your terse Monday Morning.

My weekend was pretty much a little bit of the same with little bits here and there of something different for good measure. I got to try out some new places, and also got to chat with some interesting people.

I went to Happy Hour on Friday to celebrate my brother's birthday at Ri Ra, one of my favorite bars. The bar  is so vibrant and creates such great ambiance that I love going there. The people there are not quite as vibrant as the alcohol selection. Talked to a couple of people, it didn't go so well. Met up with some friends later at another bar for a Happy Hour meetup. This was just okay. I think I am getting used to being by myself now that outings in a group are beginning to bore me. Quickly left the group to go listen to some music by myself, ended up chatting with this newly married man about what men want in a woman, very interesting take on the evening, quite different from my exchange at Ri Ra. So the night quickly went from Sad to Glad. Glad I changed location when I did.

There are usually two things that happen when I go out, asides from the impersonal bartenders, the cold stares and puzzled looks from people when they realize you arrived alone. Asides from the women who immediately feel the need to clutch their significant others once you walk by. Asides from all of these very thrilling events. One of these two events always seems to occur:

I either start a wonderful conversation with the person beside me, wonderful, riveting conversation or, I initiate conversation with the person besides me and it doesn't go so well and they either misconstrue my niceness for something else or just sound condescending when they respond. The outcome of this conversation or exchange is what defines my weekend, my general outing. How was the conversation? Was it stimulating? Was it thought-provoking? How much did I say? How much did they say? Was it amusing? Was it factual? Was it honest and raw? Did it make me think about it days later, i.e., was it memorable?

Isn't it surprising how a simple conversation with a total stranger can make or mar the weekend? People don't know that, the ones that fall into the latter and misconstrue my niceness or friendliness for something else, they don't know that some of the best conversations, most truthful conversations you may have in life, occur with total strangers. Because think about it, this people don't know you, there is a possibility that they may never see you again. But if for a brief moment you tap into their school of thought you can obtain some of the most uninhibited ideas about you, life, everything, in this brief time. Face it, they have nothing to lose, they can be as honest and hard-hitting with you much more than people who know you, and that honesty may be just what you need to steer you to any direction.

Even if you spend the whole evening shooting ish, it still livens up the mood and that's what a weekend away from the apartment is meant to do, isn't it? It's meant to stir the mood and give you a taste out of the ordinary.

One of the main reasons why I started this blog was because I kept meeting all these interesting people while I was out and tapping into their life stories for however long we would talk, and I wanted a place to capture all that. Our brains not being able to retain all this information, I would remember it for a brief period, maybe a week at the most and then, I would forget it. How would I ever write my novel if I don't remember this raw material I am being fed. I would besiege my co-worker with these stories and she just got tired of listening and said, "Just put it in a blog, that way you'll always remember." The idea of this blog just sort of progressed from that into my solo adventures and trying to encourage people to go out alone a lot more (just so I am not the only one solo). With that excursion, there really doesn't seem to be that much room to discuss these private conversations with people on this blog. Plus I don't want them to have to bide their tongue every time they see me, for fear that I would expose details of our discussion on the web.

That notwithstanding, I still encourage the occasional talk. I think people have built up this wall, this impenetrable wall that is comforted by having their companions with them when they step out into the world. And the few of us that don't have a wall, that try to speak to others through their fences occasionally get shot down by those that live behind the wall. At first it gets discouraging, for me it does anyway, I think to myself, why bother...but you go to another place and someone speaks to you, truly opens up to you and you end up having a mind-blowing conversation with someone and you think, that's why I bother, because you never know. I don't let it discourage me and you shouldn't too.

Here's to hoping more people let down their guards and just talk...you never know who's listening on the other end.