STRANGERS

You’ve heard the stories about the strangers.  They’re the potentially dangerous ones—the ones you do not know—who might hurt you.  For the human race contains distorted men—and sometimes distorted women—who thrive on the pain they inflict upon others.
They are the monsters, the strangers, and they live in the Public.  This reality, this bona fide truth—this unfair judgment of ordinary people—has been instilled in our memories since Day One. 

“Do not talk to strangers, do not smile at strangers, and do not look at strangers.”
“Why?”
“Because they could be dangerous.  Some of them like to hurt little kids, kidnap them and take them away forever.”
The damned boogie-man.

As a result, almost every one of us—not only when we are young, but when we are adults, too—requires the presence of familiar faces.  When we see a face we do not know, it scares us, as well it should, because the Unfamiliar Face belongs to a stranger. (Lord help us if that unfamiliar face is also unhealthy looking!)

We are surrounded by strangers every day—people just like us—people taught to fear the strangers.  So, the outcome of avoiding the stranger is... we fear each other.  We fear our own kind—unless they strongly remind us of someone we know.   

If there are strangers everywhere we go—human beings we know nothing about—then everywhere we go we are afraid.  We are so frightened by all these strangers, we can barely look them in the eyes.  Never mind giving one of them a smile! 

No one is to blame for this severe education of fearing the stranger; for God—or whoever is in charge—has allowed distorted human beings to live amongst us, crazy people, predators with an actor’s gift of fooling us and our children into thinking they are loving, beautiful, caring people—when what they really are is treacherous, and animalistic.

However, the truth is only about one percent of our species is sick enough to act out a twisted fantasy of hurting another.  When we ordinary people have twisted fantasies about injuring someone, it is usually based on the anger of someone we know—it seldom includes an innocent person we’ve never met.  And hell no we don’t act out fantasies like that!  We barely even speak of them!

So if the law of averages is on our side (the fact that very few people act out vicious thoughts toward another) and most of us know this, then why are we so anxious around strangers?  Why do we fret in a crowd?  Even when the crowd of individuals is perfectly calm, perfectly polite, and no one is acting idiotic, we still have this sense of being invaded by strangers, the ones we cannot trust, the ones we were taught to avoid. 

How ridiculous we are in fearing (most likely) very innocent people, human beings who have the same exact needs as we do.  Human beings who need security, money, laughter and fun.  They need friends and love; they are overworked and underpaid, and very likely fed up with the idea of our unanimous obsession with machines.
They may be the strangers, but they are also our brothers and sisters. 

So if it is Peace on Earth you truly crave, then start by trusting the law of averages is on your side.  Smile at these unknown people, and let them pass before you; these strangers are probably not Monsters.  They are gentle souls just as scared as you and I.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               BACK:

               Love, Learn, Play

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

next: