Our parents always say not to talk to strangers.
In this day and age, it’s difficult to say if someone has good intentions or not. And as the danger becomes much more prevalent than before, our instinct is to keep to ourselves for our own safety.
But every once in a while, chances for connection between two strangers can spring up in the unlikeliest of places. And lucky, there were people around to witness the beauty of these spontaneous conversations.
Amanda Craft was eating at a famous fast food restaurant when she saw something spectacular.
The teacher from Noblesville was eating a meal with her colleagues when she noticed an older woman looking for a table.
At that point, the old woman wasshort of two things, company, and a chair. Now, we don’t know if the line “Share a seat, win a friend” is famous where you are, but this wisdom was about to be proven true.
The old woman shuffled towards a young man who was also eating alone.
Then she did something that’s pretty rare in this day and age. She asked the young man if she could join him for lunch.
Eric Haralson, the 28-year-old customer, obliged. No, he didn’t shoo her away or eat alone in silence. He made room for another customer just looking for a place to spend lunch.
But eating is a social thing, and soon enough the two strangers began talking.
Craft, the person who took the photo, said that the two talked like they’d known each other before. That’s how comfortable they were with each other.
“My friends and I watched him introduce himself and shake her hand. They talked and laughed together like they were friends.” Craft said as quoted by FOX News, “They didn’t know each other, and they couldn’t be more different. But today they shared a meal together and it touched our hearts.”
The story didn’t start off as smoothly, though.
Haralson told ABC News that he was the second table the old lady approached that morning. She first approached and tried to have a conversation with a group of teenagers before moving to Haralson’s table.
In their conversation that lasted for 45-minutes, Haralson learned that she’s a religious woman who goes to church every Sunday.
In turn, the old lady learned about Haralson’s girlfriend and kids. However, the old lady didn’t mention if she has a family or a partner.
This prompted Haralson to exchange numbers with her.
He shared with ABC that he wanted to reach out because she never mentioned if she has anyone in her life.
He also left a voicemail to her just to share that their photo was becoming positively viral.
It’s totally understandable if we are naturally defensive toward strangers.
But sometimes, when a genuine opportunity presents itself, maybe it’s not so bad to connect to someone, especially those who we think are alone in this world.
“It struck a chord with everybody because you don’t see that,” Craft said to ABC. “I think that’s what people are hungry to see is the kindness of others.” And maybe, this kind of kindness is all we need.
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