Random people

Are you the kind of person who can strike a conversation with a random person on the street or in a coffee shop? Or a park maybe? Will you talk to someone you don't know that just suddenly starts a conversation with you? Now, I want to think that I'm a little introverted to actually always be the first one to strike a conversation with someone I don't know but sometimes, it happens and you end up talking to this person you just met and maybe you won't ever see again. I remembered this incident one Sunday morning, I was seated at a park in 50th street between 8th and 9th ave in Manhattan. It was sunny that day and so a lot of the locals decided to visit the park and bask in the sunlight. I was there with my notebook in my hands, trying to fight the urge to daydream while people watching. I was supposed to be studying for my EIT which was coming up in a few weeks time. Then this elderly man started to come towards me or my table that is. There were no more vacant tables at the park so maybe he just wanted a seat. He said hi and I said hi too. We did the usual, "nice weather today" pleasantries and I came back to my studying. However, as I look up again, I turned to this man sitting quietly across from me, with a distant look in his eyes. I started to become curious. Who is he? What's his story? Has life been good to him? So, I decided to close my notebook and turned my attention to him. I asked his name and I gave him mine, I asked him if he was from there. He said, what do you mean? I clarified my question and asked him if he was from New York and he said, nobody's really from here. We're just people from different places and by one reason or another are in that place at that specific period of time. Ok, that was deep for a first conversation. He said he was originally from Austria and that he immigrated to the US some 30 years ago. He was divorced and is now living by himself but he said his children visit sometimes. He started asking me about where I was from, and why was I in the park. I said, I was studying for a while while waiting for my husband. He said, then I better get moving before your husband sees us. I laughed and assured him that its ok, my husband wouldn't mind. We ended up talking for a couple of hours about history, where he was during the war, his children. I told him that I was from the Philippines and he said that he knew Cory Aquino and Imelda. Now I'm not sure if he just heard about them in the news or if he knew them personally. That would be interesting. Anyway, after a few hours, Kenny finally arrived and I introduced him to my new friend. Then we said goodbye and left. Life took over and we're back to the same routine we were used to. But sometimes I remember this man that I met at the park. If I didn't talk to him, he would just be one of the many strangers I saw that day, no names to associate with their faces. But one conversation has opened up a whole new story to me. A life that had its ups and downs, triumphs and trials. I don't know if he thought the same. But interestingly enough, after a year has passed, we saw him again at that same park. We walked over where he was seated and greeted him. And he still remembered my name!