But this is a song
for strangers in a car…
Baby, maybe that’s all
we really are.
– Marc Cohn
We don’t meet strangers. We make them.
I recently met some folks, previously known to me only via the Blogs, for the first time, and like an Austen character, I was announced upon entry as “The Internet Stranger.” (I am the Scarlet Pimpernel!!) I felt, on the instant, as if I should be caped and hooded, I should be Batman. Or at least the slightest bit mysterious. Stalking imperiously around the house, channeling Christopher Lee, laughing like the Count from Sesame Street, with constantly cocked eyebrow and penetrating stare.
But that would have been weird…
…And I digress. On reflection (which at the very least means I’m not a vampire), I ask myself: what is a stranger?
Are all the people we’ve never met “strangers”? Conversely, are all the people we already have, not? What makes someone a stranger to me? When we were children, it was simple: a stranger was some guy with a van, or anyone who offered us candy on the street. But as adults, the term is hardly so clear-cut.
Just yesterday, a fellow blogger noted that one of my older posts seemed like a letter I had written to her well before I even knew who she was. That got me to thinking again. What if it was? Not to her, specifically, but to all the “Internet strangers” out there, written in the hopes that some of them might not be so strange after all.
This same blogger, in a recent post, asked an interesting question: faced with the ominous silence that often accompanies a blog post, why do we blog instead of just writing in a journal? Why do we keep putting it all out there, even when no one seems to be listening? Maybe this is the secret: diaries are great if you’re Anne Frank or Jan Brady, but at the end of the day, they are simply mute. You can pour your heart into them, but they will never offer anything in return. With blogging, there is hope. Hope that one day, you may get a “Polo!” in response to your “Marco!”
In blogging, we embrace an idea: the idea that strangers are only friends we haven’t met yet. Anne Shirley said it best: “Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
Some people–family, so-called friends, co-workers–have known me for years, and don’t know me from Adam. Then there are others, whom I’ve never met, who’ve known me since the day I was born, and I them. We just don’t know it yet.
So, the next time that metaphorical car pulls up alongside, the door swings open, and a “stranger” beckons from inside, in the words of Marc Cohn, “are you gonna get in, or are you gonna stay out?”
Because that stranger may turn out to be a life-long friend you never knew you had.
Reblogged this on The Counterfeit Christian and commented:
I’m a huge fan of this guy—and I’m the person who gave him the name “The Internet Stranger” when we one day found ourselves in the same part of the world and met face to face.
This says it better than I ever could—this is why I write. Thank you to each of you who give the “Polo” to my “Marco.”
Internet Stranger—thank you for this, and for the letters you wrote to me and many others before we ever met. Here’s to friendships that transcend space and even time.
You are welcome, and thank YOU!
Toad, my friend, you won the internet today. Well done.
Gentleness and respect,
–Russell
Thanks, Russell!
As an aside: (Is there a cash prize with that?) :0p
Absolutely! It’s $1.00. You’ll have it tomorrow. 🙂
Dude! Ka-ching!!
And Tammy said I couldn’t make a living blogging…
Also, I’m loving the Marc Cohn song. I hadn’t heard it before.
‘S one of my very, very favorite songs ever.
I can see why.
One of my favorite things I’ve ever read. EVER.
Tanks!
Indeed!
Indeed, indeed! :0)
seriously, Vance, this has got to be the best post I’ve ever read from you. It resonated with every cell in my being.
Thanks, V. I appreciate that, as one former “Internet stranger” to another. :0)
😉
I love this. It’s so true. I’ve been fortunate to hear sincere, caring calls of ‘Polo’ in the time I’ve been blogging. The passing drivers that have idled alongside me have given me gifts innumerable, not the least of which have been friendship, camaraderie, information, and understanding. Kindred spirits save me from myself and I don’t think I’m alone in that.
“Kindred spirits save me from myself.”
A) GREAT song by Pink. :0p
B) Very much so.
Marco!
Is there a Pink song I am unaware of? This must be rectified.
POLO!
Hazard to Myself. Another of my very, very favorite songs ever…
BTW, if you’ve never listened to Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis” album, you should. I think you would love it!
(That’s not what it’s called; it’s just his name. But that’s the best known song on it.)
Ah, *Hazard to Myself* is one of my favorites too.
I have sung ‘Walking in Memphis’ more times than I can count. I knew his voice was familiar! Album, here I come.
Yes, yet another of my very, very favorite songs ever. I actually insisted on playing that in the car as Tammy and I drove through Memphis on the way back from our honeymoon. And she stayed married to me! How awesome is that?! :0p
Check out “Ghost Train,” too. Another great one!
Hehe. Aww. That is the kind of adorably charming couple story I like to hear. 🙂
True, very true. I agree. *smiles*
“I was announced upon entry as “The Internet Stranger.” – this needs to be written with care, for the addition of the letter ‘L’ to the last word could have you appear as something considerably more disturbing. *laughs a lot*.
– sonmi upon the Cloud
I had exactly that thought as I was typing it. I thought about adding it, just to see if anyone noticed…
I think that should be followed with….”Bwahahahaha!” ideally.
😀
– sonmi upon the Cloud
Haha!
This left me laughing like a disturbed internet stranger.