Stranger #17

Stranger #17-

A rainy day with no class calls for a nice ole' trip to Michaels. Michaels is one of those stores for me where I walk in, and it's like a library. I never know what section to rummage through first. So, I looked in the jewelery making section, made my way to the scrapbooking section, looked over to my left and saw a man creating a flowery Easter arrangement. Nonchalantly, yep, you couldve guessed it, I made my way to the flowers. Although I could lie and tell ya that I was paying attention to all of the beautiful flowers surrounding me, I wont. At this point, I didnt really care about the flowers, for a matter of fact, I dont really care about fake flowers in general, but for some reason, I wanted to talk to this guy! Something inside of me actually felt nervous. He looked semi-approachable, and by that, I mean of course I can go up to anyone I want, but he was working. Part of me didnt want to bother him and tell him about my project, the other part of me was thinking "aw, hell ya do, what do you have to lose? Stop fussing around, and pretending to enjoy looking at flowers you dont even know the name of. Go for it!" I mean, at worst, he could say no, and I probably wouldve just ran out of the store. No big deal! So, I grew a pair, and up to him I went.

Meet Lou. A man from the Bronx. Lou has 3 kids, Josephine who is a paralegal (which also happens to be the name of stranger #12), Jeremey who workes at Long Island Hospital as an RN, and Johnathon, the oldest, who is a dentist. Lou lost his mother, and inherited a good amount of money after her death. With the monetary gain from a few deceased relatives, he put all three of his children through college. Lou stated, "I didnt want my kids to have all of those expensive school loans. I also only pay for A' and B's. I'm strict, I'm a military man, we dont put up with nonsense. If they want to bring home C's, D's, or  F's, they can pay for their own schooling!" Before retirement, Lou owned his own bridal store in Cherry Hill, NJ. He doesnt need to work, but he works part time at Michaels perfecting their flower arrangements. Lous father was Captain of the Army, and made Lou attend military school, and join the services when he was younger. He had no other choice. Lou's mother was a judge. After serving in the military, Lou moved back to NY, and went to college.

Lou, aside from putting together arrangments is also a knowledgeable  scrapbooking teacher for Michaels Thursday night art class. Lou made sure to tell me, "I dont do children. My class is all adults. I have children, and two grandbabies, those days are over for me!" He also uttered that his oldest son wont have a child because they're too expensive! "I'm happy that he feels this way!" says Lou, "There is no rush, take your time!"

When I took Lou's picture, he remarked "I'm a brat service child, we dont smile!" I laughed, and added that's quite alright!"

Stranger #16

Stranger #16-

Today was a different type of day. Typically, when I approach someone, I ask them to tell me anything they want about themselves. The conversation doesnt really get turned around, and I'm all of a sudden being questioned. I have to admit, it makes for a great two-way conversation! It was awesome! When I told Anita who I was and about my project, she immediately asked me my field of study, and when I intended on graduating. I answered "I'm studying criminal justice and actually, I'm graduating this semester!" I dont know if it was her caring motherly tendencies kicking in, but as soon as I stated that I was graduating this semester, she asked me if I began the job search process, and if I've been submitting my resume to potential employers. At this very moment, I'm lucky if I could even find time to go on an interview! We spoke about my future goals for a good 15 minutes. I was given a lot of useful advice, but I wanted to hear what Anita had to say about her own life.

Meet Anita Washington. Anita has been a secretary at Arcadia for almost 21 years and works for 5 departments. She is currently a secretary for the religion, philosophy, music, modern languages, history and political science departments. She has a daugher who is getting married in November. and currently they're fighting with their church because they wont allow anyone to get married on a Sunday. I dont really know much about religion, because I dont practice any religion, but I told her I was actually shocked to hear this. I didnt know that you couldnt get married in a church on Sunday! See, ya learn something new everyday! She seemed to be surprised by it too, though! She told me that England just passed a law that people are able to wed at night, they were never permitted prior to this law! I asked her if her daughter was willing to switch the day, and she said that she really wanted to get married on this Sunday because the next day, Monday, happens to be Veterens day and her daughters grandfather was a buffalo soldier.

As I was packing up my things, and thanking Anita, she happened to see my engagement ring. It opened up a door of conversation about the story of her daughter and talking her fiance into trading in the ring he had bought her. Anita was a trip! She said her daughter knows all about diamonds and how much theyre worth and she was just not havin' the one that she was given to "walk around with for the rest of her life." What did she do? She made her fiance get her a new one! This story, in turn, got us talking about a hilarious episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond", but ill save that for another time!


Keep on following my journey!

Stranger#15

Stranger #15-

Meet Amanda Bruck. Amanda is a junior, communications, print corporate major. After graduation, Amanda would like to do public relation work. As we were speaking to one another, she happened to tell me a fun fact about herself.

"I've never seen Wizard of Oz. My mom didnt like it, and as I got older, I chose to never watch it. Now, I just avoid watching it at all because it's a cool fact to tell people about myself!"

Stranger #14

Stranger #14-

I need to start off by saying that I really appreciate Arcadia, and the people that I come into contact with here. For once, I'm actually not being sarcastic! As mentioned in one of my prior blogs, I'm here a lot, way too much sometimes! I'm here so often, which means that again, a good handful of my strangers may be students or someone affiliated with the school. The thing about Arcadia is, everyone that I approach from here, always has the same positive outlook about the project that I do. I always get really nice feedback from the strangers that I go up to here, and no one has refused to talk to me on campus, thus far. I may of spoke too soon, but it's really nice to hear. Although the rejection of people not wanting to have anything to do with me can be good sometimes (by that I mean, it really can test your strength and patience), but it's nice when it doesnt happen either.

Meet James. James is a transfer student who is now living on Arcadias Campus. He is a senior, pych major with a minor in education, and sociology. When he graduates he wants to study sex-therapy and eventually become a sex therapist. He stated that there are only two schools that offer this program, one being Widener, and another school out in California. James is involved with an internship, where he is actually working with the sociology/antropology/criminal justice department head, Ana Garcia on a project called "bettering queer climate on Arcadia's campus." The project looks at the language around the word "queer" and is trying to scope the language and context of how this word is used. He is also trying to get gender neutral bathrooms on campus.

James also openly admitted that he is a transgender. He has  a surgery scheduled for June 6th and has began to take hormones 8 months ago. The cost of the surgery is $6700 and he is still thinking of ways of how he is going to be able to pay for it. He may read this since he asked for the blog address, so goodluck, James!

Now, here's some food for thought. When I approached James, he was talking to two girls who were working behind the desk in the library. While we were talking, he told me when I went up to him, they were conversing about this question. "If you were paid $1000 every night to sleep with someone (I believe a different person every time) and you could control the situation, (meaning that you can have protected sex using a condom and/or birthcontrol, and were able to choose the person), would you do it?" Of course, my immediate response was absolutely not, because honestly, that's just not me, but as we started talking more, we went into how some individuals unfortunately could be desperate for money. People are in many different types of sad situations which would leave them with no better choice, and lets face it, it would be almost impossible to make that kind of money with any damn job or college degree! Some people may not even be in any situation, but would do it because of the amount of money. Even so, regardless of what I would do, or my opinion, to each is own. I know, totally random, but very interesting to say the least!

Stranger #13

Stranger #13-

Over the weekend, I came to the conclusion that this project would be alot harder if I lived in the mountains. Honest to god, it seemed as if civialization didnt exist up there. I figured that I may be able to meet someone walking around the development where our mountain house located at, but everyone was literally non-existant. It's a far stretch from what I'm used to, living in the city. When I walk outside of my house in the morning, I could always bet that someone will walk by atleast every 20 minutes. It's very quiet, and serene in the mountains, but if you love being around people, this is not the place for you. I dont know if it was just the location or because it's dead Winter, and everyone stays in their house, or what? We went into a grocery store to get some things, and actually asked the young man at the register what there is to do in the area. He chuckled and actually said "nothing." It was funny, but crazy at the same time. He said that the closest thing to do was 30 minutes from where we were and he said that they only had a movie theatre, shopping and restaurants. Luckily, google is one of the best inventions ever, and we happened to find a really nice bowling alley to waste some time before the crazy drinking festivities began.

Meet Linda. At the supermarket, named Weis, Linda was standing outside on her break. Linda didnt want to say much but she did state that she owns a rottweiler named Zoey. She also has been working in the meat department for atleast 10 years. She was extremely hesitant, and I could tell that she was very taken back by what I was doing. I know it's not every day that someone randomly approaches you and asks your name, but I am apprecative that she didnt blow me off and did spend a few minutes of her break telling me a couple things about herself, and allowing me to take her picture. Thats all I could've asked for!

Stranger #12

Stranger #12

For those who read my blog, thanks for the patience. I had absolutely no service the entire weekend to update, but as promised, I did meet someone new every day!

I knew I was going to venture off extremely early to the mountains on Friday morning, so I decided to meet my stranger beforehand. Of course, it was raining and nasty out. I knew in my head that today may be hard, because, lets face it, who wants to stand outside in the cold rain and converse with a complete stranger. I mean, other than me. So, as I'm driving to meet my friends so we can leave, I see a crossing guard standing on the street. A bright light bulb went off in my head as if it was perfect timing (which it was!) They have to stand out in the rain whether they talk to me or not, right?

Meet Josphine. Josphine is a crossing-guard and has been for 3 years. She chose to tell me that she became a grandmom in January to a little girl named Amelia. As I began to tell Josphine that part of my project involves taking her picture, she said by law, she wasnt allowed. I was a little shocked to find out the strict rules that the city places on the crossing gaurds. She said that she isnt allowed to have pictures taken of her, or pictures with anyone for that matter. She also isnt supposed to really be conversing with people, or giving out information.

As I was walking away, because I was going to have to approach another stranger, Josphine actually called me back. She told me that she would take off her crossing guard uniform just so I can take her picture (dont think dirty thoughts, she had clothes underneath!) and use her for my project. I was blown away by how genuinely nice that was! She really didnt have to go out of her way, but she did, and even though she didnt tell me much, her actions were appreciated to the fullest!

Stranger #11

Stranger #11-

Meet Derrek Shuffield. Derrek is a Junior who is studying English, creative writing with a minor in philosophy. He grew up and lived in LA for 15 years of his life. Him and his father moved to Pennsylvania when his dad decided that he wanted to give up being a financial analyst to become a Pastor. Originally they moved to York, PA and Derrek hated it! He likes it way better around the Philadelphia area.

After graduating, Derrek plans to spend 2 years organic farming. He further explained that you farm for yourself, and the person that you work for. In return, you are able to eat the food, student loans are deffered, and since he is a vegetarian, he's extremely excited to experience this. After his organic farming experience, Derrek plans to spend a year with a non-profit organization called the Lama foundation. According to their website which I looked up to learn more of what Derrek was explaining to me, "Lama Foundation is: a community, a not-for profit organization, and a "spiritual home" to many. Our mission is to be both a sustainable spiritual community as well as an educational center dedicated to all spiritual paths. Situated about 20 miles north of Taos New Mecixo, on just under 110 acres at 8600 feet, Lama Foundation is almost completely surrounded by Carson National Forrest, giving one the feeling of being "way out there", or away from civilization. There are vistas, sunsets, pristine mountain-spring water, vegetarian cooking, and a wide variety of animals that share the mountain with the community."

When thanking Derrick for his time, and meeting him, he ended with "If I see ya around campus, ill say hi now!"

ah, mission accomplished, once again.  
Have a great day!

One more thing. I will be away in the mountains this weekend, but of course I will make sure to continue what I've been doing! My only problem may be service, and updating my blog. For those who have been following religiously, every day, I will try to update this thing if I can. If not, my strangers will be updated when I come home on Sunday!

Stranger #10

Stranger #10

With weather like today, I absolutely love just spending time outdoors, especially at Pennypack Park. It's actually one of my favorite places in Philadelphia. Even before I started this project, I always enjoyed going there because 90% of the people who walk past you actually smile and/or say hello. I dont know what it is that makes me appreciate little things like this, maybe because it's so simple but yet so few people do it? I dont know, but I walked around and enjoyed the non-winter like breeze! I also had the chance to run into some interesting and extremely nice folks today.

Please allow me to start off by telling you about the first stranger that I approached. Oh, Rosie. While I was walking around the track, Rosie was sitting by herself. I figured she was waiting for the bus, but I went up to her anyway. When I put out my hand and introduced myself, I knew that this was going to be quite interesting to say the least. Rosie made me laugh, big time! She was italian, and really only spoke italian. She could speak some words here and there but nothing too extravagant. I tried explaining what my purpose was, and she kind of got it, I guess. She started to ask me in broken english if I was going up to both men and women, and I told her yes. I actually went back and forth with Rosie for a good 45 minutes (a repeat of the awesome Albanian man that I met days prior!)Typically, at this point I usually have what the person is telling me written down in my book that I keep for this project, but with Rosie, I had nothing. She just made me laugh. Although I tried to explain to her that I wasnt doing this for school, she didnt understand or grasp that I was solely doing it for personal reasons. Rosie just kept reiterating "tell your teacher, you the boss, you the boss!" While speaking with  Rosie, one of the few statements that I could make out was her stating"the longer you sit here, you reach NY!" At this point, I wouldnt have anything to really write about Rosie, except that I knew her name, which was quite ok with me because I honestly wont forget her. When I told her that I have to take her picture for my project, she responded with "I need teeth, I have no fucking teeth, no picture!" I pretty much lost it at this point. I really couldnt stop laughing, because she just kept laughing at herself.

After Rosie told me that she didnt want to take a picture, I attempted to tell her to have a good day and it was nice speaking to her. Rosie wasnt having that. She kept telling me to come back, and the sucker that I can be, actually felt bad walking away from her. It seemed like she just wanted someone to talk to, even though I only understood bits and pieces of what she was saying. I'm not even convinced that she knew what she was saying. So, I sat there, and listened, and listened, and yep, I listened some more. Rosie kept telling me that I was beautiful because I have teeth and then asked me if my family had teeth. You could tell that it was a big insecurity that she may have with herself, but she never told me why she didnt have any teeth. She kept smiling and saying "no teeth, see!"It was pure insanity of a conversation to say the least, but again, she made me laugh. Eventually I told her that I had to go. We kind of ran away from eachother; her bus finally came, and I had to start walking away, which brought me to Anita.

Meet Anita. Anita lives in Cape Cod, Mass and was visiting her friend Stanly (in the picture above) for a few weeks. She also told me that during the Winter months, she goes down to Florida, and then goes home to Cape Cod to be with her family. Anita wrote a book and is in the process of getting the book published. Her book is a memoir written in letter form for her husband that she lost 5 years ago. She signs all of her letters with

As Ever,
Pudd
(Letters of a love story that never ends)

Pudd is a nickname that was given to Anita by her husband, and also it's the title of her book. I honestly thought the book sounded awesome, and creative, especially being that I'm a big fan of memiors. I also think that it's a different and a great way to mourn the loss of a loved one. I briefly got the chance to meet Anitas friend Stanly as well. Please keep him in your prayers, for he is having an operation due to lung cancer and hasnt smoked a day in his life. This is the reason that Anita was in Philadelphia visiting.

It's been a long day, but a great one. Keep following my journey of 100 strangers!

Stranger #9

Stranger #9-
Not only did I meet another face today (and yes another dog too) but I'm really happy, because for the first time, well, my fiance actually read my blog. Some of you may be thinking, why hasnt he read it until now? Like some others, he wasnt too keen on the whole idea (even though he does think it is creative.) He was and still is worried about the safety cautions that could come from doing this type of project. This is why he never took interest in reading it. Although it made me a little sad at first, because he typically supports every single thing that I do, I cant blame him, or anyone else for worrying. In all reality, dont we take a chance just walking down a street everyday though? Even when you get in a car, so many things are liable to happen. If I worried about all of this stuff, I would stay in my house like a hermit everyday, and even today, that could be a not so safe place. I will not let that "risk", or the lack of support that I may have stop me from doing what I want. It's funny because I get overwhelming amounts of positive feedback (which always makes me smile), and people that are excited to read my blog each and every day (which I thank you if you are one of those people.) Then, I receive feedback from others saying that this is dumb because of what could happen to me, but it's those same people who havent taken out the time to read or witness the awesome individuals that I'm getting a chance to meet every day.

I, like anyone else do some clumsy and dumb shit sometimes. I'm human, but I'm not unintelligent. I know and understand that every time I approach someone, I'm taking a risk. I'm ok with this. I take risks all of the time. A man named Fredrick B. Wilcox once said, "Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first." It's the god honest truth.

Meet Ida. Ida has been a preschool teacher for 3 years, and is also a Sunday school teacher at Resso. She has one son, and is married. Ida started off by telling me that she has traveled to Italy twice and  can basically speak Italian fluently. She has family in Italy and stated that she lost a lot of her family there during World War II.   Furthermore, Ida said that her husband could possibly be related to John Wilks Booth because they share the same last name. Well, if ya dont know who he is, he is a gutsy actor who killed Abraham Lincoln!

Ida also shared her favorite quote with me- "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"- John Lennon

Stranger #8-

Stranger #8-

Those who personally know me are probably thinking "yep, she definitely went up to this guy because he had a dog." Truth is, if you were betting, you would've won big time! I cant help it, but my love for animals, dogs amongst all, is something that I could never deny. Regardless of the dog, it's not every day that you walk down a street, and you happen to run into a marine who has served in Iraq. More importantly, you wouldnt know unless you took the time to stop, say hello, and conversate. I know this may not be realistic for all, but I'm happy that I did.

Meet Brian. Again, a man who once served our country as a Marine in Iraq. Currently, Brian is a nurse and works at the University of Penn in an ICU unit. He has lived in Rhawnhurst all of his life. He introduced me to Rocky, yes the dog, and went on to tell me that he got him online 6 years ago from a rescue group. Rocky (which happens to also be my favorite movie, and oddly enough is on TV as I write this) was left stranded in front of a hospital in Virginia. At this point, my heart may have been melting a little bit. Brian also told me that his fiance works in a rehabilitation hospital for animals!

As we stood on the street and talked, Brian proclaimed that his friend went to Arcadia. I recognized the last name, and I actually happened to know his bother. What a small world it can be! You never know who you are going to run into which keeps this project a great eye-opening experience for me!

Stranger #7

Stranger #7-

Even on my days off from class, you can catch me living my life in the school library. It's not essentially the place that I would like to spend my Sundays, but hey, ya do what ya gotta do! When I walked in the library today, the place was pretty much ghost town. Three people were present. One girl working at the counter, and two students on the computers. I kinda envy those that can actually enjoy Sunday funday while I'm surrounded by books that I never want to read, but the sound of graduation in 3 months motivates me immensely! (and the fact that sadly, football season is over, which typically used to take over my Sundays)

Meet Sharon Overton. A commuter student, just like myself who was catching up on her emails. Why did I go up to Sharon instead of the girl at the counter or the man all the way in the back of the library? Well, when I walked by Sharon, she made eye contact with me and actually smiled. I put my stuff down next to a computer 2 rows away from Sharon and went right back up to her. As I was telling her what my project was about, all she did was shake her head in agreeance to everything that I was saying. It gave me a great feeling actually. For once, someone isnt giving me a puzzled look! As soon as I was finished, she immediately began saying how she thought it was crazy how people can walk by one another and not even say hello. BINGO! Exactly my point!

Sharon is a business major. She worked full-time up until December, and then got laid off. When she graduates, she plans on submitting her resume everywhere, but would love to find something related to Human Relations. Sharon states "it's hard being an Arcadia commuter. You try and meet people, and then you take another class, and those same students that you attempted to get to know are in other classes. You barely ever see them again!" She thinks that Arcadia should have something where students are brought together to talk about their experiences, and also to meet other students.

Furthermore, Sharon openly admitted that she is typically the oldest person in all of her classes besides the teacher, which is hard as well. "I'm in my 50's! So by the time I get out of here, ill be close to retirement!" I couldnt help but laugh when she said this. Number one, I honestly didnt think she was over 50, and two, I found it pretty inspiring. It just really goes to show that it's never too late to go after what you want. Whatever is going to make YOU happy within your life, get your ass up and do it!

Thought of the day-
"It's never too late - in fiction or in life - to revise."- Nancy Thayer

Stranger #6

Stranger #6

What a beautiful day to meet a stranger, but like other days, it's been an experience. A good one though! This man was standing by himself leaning on a bench on Roosevelt Blvd. So, here I go.

When I first saw him, he was wearing sunglasses (really nice ones actually) and you couldnt see his eyes at all because of the dark tint. I went up to him, introduced myself and put out my hand to shake his. I began to tell him about my project and why I became interested. After I got done my whole damn spiel (which sounded great today by the way), he responds with "I dont speak English." AH! All I could think to myself was, is this some kind of joke? I honestly thought he just didnt want to give me the time of day. I didnt walk away though, because he never walked away from me. There is something about this project, which in lack of better words, has given me some balls.

As we stood there, he was smiling, because lets face it, he had no clue what to say. I was kind of puzzled myself because he had no idea what I was saying either! He attempted to talk, but he really just didnt know how to communicate with me. He wasnt lying when he told me that he couldnt speak English (which in turn, made me feel like a jerk about assuming that he didnt want to talk to me.) I tried to break down what I was saying, and at one point I started to act out what I was trying to say. I did this for a good 5 minutes! I felt like I was playing a random ass game of Charades or something. It's crazy, but it kinda worked. What's so funny to me is, I probably looked insane to those driving up the Blvd, or even crazier to the people walking by us on one of the busiest intersections in Philadelphia. I just didnt care.

So, here we are, standing on the side of the BLVD. We werent making any progress, but I was actually havng fun. Then, he reached into his coat pocket. Youre probably wondering why in the world he went into his pocket, as was I at the time. Well, he pulled out his cellphone! As I stood there, quiet as a mouse, he told me in broken english that his daughter was on her way to pick him up. He just kept smiling. I couldnt, but I didnt even want to walk away. Even though he couldnt communicate with me very well, I knew he was somewhat interested in what I was trying to tell him. He tried calling her for what felt like a century as I stood there. Im not sure if he didnt know how to work his cellphone, but he even started to blurt out her digits to me when he wasnt able to dial her number. After he got past the "2-6-7", his phone started ringing. It was his daughter! He started talking in Albanian, and handed me his phone. I got on the phone, and all over again, told her my purpose. She was such a sweetheart. She asked me to wait and that she was coming from Franklin Mills, but would be where we are in a couple mins. At this point, I didnt know what the outcome was going to be, but deep down, I was silently cracking up at myself. Who the hell does this?

A couple minutes later, his daughter pulled up. As she got out of her car, I continued to say Hi and again, repeat why I was doing this. She seemed like she loved the idea, and passed along what I was saying to her dad. I was watching them the entire time and when she got to the end, he had the biggest, most inviting smile on his face ever! She played translator between us, and I just told her that I wanted to know his name and anything he wanted to tell me about himself, literally anything he wanted to say. When she began to convey to him what I had told her, he pulled out his I.D to show me his name and confirm his identity. It was so cute!

Meet Ilirjan Lamaj. Ilirjan is 61 (his birthday was yesterday actually!) from Albania and has been here for 4 years. His daughter who is a citizen, petitioned and brought her father to the United States. Illrjan and his daughters whole family is back in Albania and he goes to visit them once a year. Illrjan is disabled and cant work because he has "an extremely bad case of diabetes" and is "insulin dependent." He also has prostate cancer. It's been hard, but Illrjan says that he has a senior bus pass and spends his days at an Albanian coffee shop on Castor and Tyson.

Today was a little random to say the least, but again, this is why I love this. It made my entire day that Ilirjan went out of his way to get his daughter to translate, and was able to get across to me what he wanted me to know about himself. Not only did it show me that people still care, but I was able to meet a new face today.

Keep following my journey!

Stranger #5

Stranger #5-

As I'm driving up Castor Avenue, I happened to look across the street. I guess it should be known that I have no system going about who I approach. I'm not out to try and find any distinct looks. It doesnt matter to me about gender, race, attire or anything related to physical appearance. It's hard to explain but simply, something inside of me just sparks when I see someone that I want to go up to. Today, this woman was cleaning outside of a coffee shop. She was all by herself, just sweeping up all of the cigarette butts off of the ground. I kept driving but I decided that I actually wanted to say hi to this woman. Maybe it would make her day? Maybe not. I wouldnt know until I went up to her. I pulled over, parked my car, and walked right across the street.

Meet Jennifer Porcher. She is 34, and a mother of two. She has a 14yr old daughter who goes to a local middle school and she described her to be very independent. Her name is Jada, and she graduates this year. She also has a 3 yr old son who she claims to be going on 30. Jennifer is a home health aid, and takes care of her disabled husband 7 days a week, 11 hours a day along with working. She lives next door to the coffee shop on the second floor; she helps out the owner and cleans when she needs her to. Jennifer began to tell me about her husband who had surgery 2 years ago on his knees. He needed his knees replaced and the doctor who performed his operation messed up. He can barely walk, but she states that every day he pushes himself to move. She has been trying to find a lawyer to file a lawsuit against his doctor but no one in Philadelphia will touch their case.

Jennifer has been with her husband for six years and has been married for two. She opened up a bit and admitted that she was an addict, and this is where her and her husband had met, in recovery. Her addiction as well as her husband was to heroine and cocaine. In her own words "ya know, the norm." Her husband spent 15 years in federal prision (she didnt go into why) and came home in '06 and thats when they had met. She also told me that awhile ago, her mom was an addict too. During her time of drug use, her daughter was taken away from her for 3 years, and at that time, it really woke her up. She wanted her daughter back, and got clean. She has been clean for 10 years.

"Keep on holding on. There are blessings that you have to look for. You know, waking up every single day is a blessing itself"- Jennifer Porcher

Stranger #4

Stranger #4-

First and foremost, please excuse the quality of this picture. I'm an idiot, and was in a huge rush this morning to get to class. As I go to take this ladies picture- whoops no SD card in my camera. A true FML moment.  I was going to go all the way home from school, and come back later but what would be the point in that? Today, we have the luxury of cameras on our phone. Although not the best quality, it works, and this is Kat.

On Thursdays, I'm on campus all day as if I'm at a full-time job (unfortunately not getting paid) so a part of the population of strangers in my blog, of course, are going to be students/faculty who are affliated with Arcadia in some type of way. Even so, Arcadias student base is extremely entertaining, meaning very diverse. This is what I love about Arcadia. Walking around campus can be easily compared to walking on South Street, without the sale of alcoholic beverages. Womp womp.

Meet Kat Wagner. Kats a metalsmith (which is awesome to say the least) and an art-ed major. Artists always have, and always will fascinate me no matter what their concentration may be. Also what fascinates me is that when you look at someone, you envision what they may say to you about themselves. I have to admit, I'm always freaking wrong. This is why you can NEVER judge a book by its cover. By looking at Kat without talking to her, you would never know that she overcame struggles in her youth when her brother committed suicide. He chose to take his life when he was 23, and she was 13. This is all Kat chose to tell me, and I was dying to know more. Like I said in my previous blog, I dont want to keep pushing at something but its stories like this that I wish people would go more in depth about.

So many people I talk to are extremely relatable in one way or another. Its crazy. No I didnt have a brother who committed suicide, but I did have a friend who committed suicide that I used to work with. It's hard to understand why people take their own life. Some may find it selfish, but I find it to be very sad. It could be that these people feel that they have no one to talk to, they dont want to talk to anyone because they are afraid to get criticized, or simply they arent comfortable enough expressing their darkest moments. It could be so many reasons, but feeling in such a way where you have to take your own life is really sad to me. This is a subject that anyone could go on and on about but since I only have 10 more minutes until my next class, I'm shutting myself up.

Although Kat didnt really tell me much, I did meet another face today, and NO rejections. Not only did I go up and introduce myself to Kat, but after I interviewed her, I saw her again around campus, and she said hi! I can honest to god say that  if I didnt introduce myself, we probably wouldnt have even said hi to one another or maybe not even made eye contact.  This is my goal. I'm not looking for someones whole life story. If my purpose was to get someones biography, I wouldve deleted Kats picture in search of another stranger. I refuse to do that. If someone gives me a sentence, its getting posted on this blog. It may not be interesting to all, but it is what it is.

Now, if one of you fine folks could bring me lunch to school since I used my 45 minute break in search of a stranger, and writing this blog, that would be freakin awesome. If you cant bring me a hotpocket, just keep following my project :) I may possibly update this thing at a later time with more of what I have in my brain, but for now, have a great day, and say HI to someone! (a stranger that is!)

I'm officially late for class.
oops.

stranger #3

Stranger #3-

What a morning it has been. There is something about rejection that I hate and love at the same time. For one, rejection sucks, especially in this case. Everytime I approach someone for this project, I feel as though I have to sell myself to them. Here I am, just some random girl, going up to complete strangers as they give me the "what the fuck" blank stare. After this stare, I have to continue to tell them my purpose, even if they could give two shits. As hard as it may be for someone to somewhat open up to me, what they may not know is, I'm nervous too! Not nervous to talk to a stranger, but its something about that initial stare that they all seem to give me.

Today, I got rejected by 5 people. Actually it was more than 5, if you count the entire group of chinese people I decided to approach. First lady wanted to share a few things about her life to me (which I listened to), but then didnt want to have her picture taken. The next man was waiting to go into work and of course as I went up to him, his manager was walking up to open the door and let him in. I still still went up to him as he was walking in. I got to say hello and tell him about my project, but he paid no mind. Now, the group of chinese men. Oh, man. I dont know what sparked my interest to go up to these guys, but I did. In the back of my mind, I thought they wouldnt want to talk to me. but it didnt stop me. I went up to one in particular, and if looks could kill, I would be a puddle of lifeless blood. I knew right after my initial "hi, I'm..." that I may be made into their joke at the end of the day. As I stood there, all of the guys just randomly looked at eachother, and busted out laughing. I dont know what the hell there deal was, maybe they didnt speak English, or they just didnt want to talk to me. Whatever the case may be, the laughing was kind of tough, but know what I did?  Instead of allowing them to laugh at me, I just started to laugh with them!

This is where loving the rejection part kicks in. These guys bothered me, and there was something about their reaction in particular that REALLY REALLY bugged me. It made me feel powerless, in the sense that I got the impression that they thought they were better than I was. Thats how these fools came across. I'm pretty sure at one point, I told myself that I was boycotting any and every eggroll, and ordering chinese wasnt an option anymore because I didnt want to support them. I eventually came back to reality and realized that a lot of people just dont want to be bothered with what I'm doing and that's quite ok. I'm still going to order chinese food! I didnt give up, even after two more rejections. After this is when I met Jon...

Meet Jon. A customer service associate at Wawa. I went to Wawa to get my morning coffee (yum) and he was outside on his break smoking a cig. So, of course, camera attached to me and all, I decided to go up to him. When I went up to him, I put my hand out, had a smile on my face and introduced myself. Unlike the others, Jon had a blank stare but oddly it was inviting. My nerves went away and I didnt feel like a salesperson at that point. He told me that when I first came up, he thought I was hitting on him and "he was gonna go with it!" He continued to say "Ill give you my number, and you can text me!" How funny. Perfect timing to inform him that I'm happily engaged, right? lol

"When someone looks at me, they dont think I'm prior service!" Jon was in the Army for 2 years, and was kicked out because he said "something bad happened and he got accused." He was stationed in Texas and stated that the humidity was higher than anything, and there was extreme dry heat. Furthermore, he said that he is an expert marksmen and he can shoot 40/40 with any weapon. Not to shabby for a 19 year old, right? Well, it's more than I can say considering I've only shot guns at a range, and only once in my life. Jon, like a lot of other people wants to get married and have a family! He is puertorican, has 2 tattoos, one of which he got when he was drunk, and another on his back that has no meaning. He plans on getting a lot more! When he got home from the service, he put out many different applications, but because of the economy, Wawa was the first to answer him. This is what Jon chose to tell me, nothing more, nothing less.

Again, it's been quite a day but I'm happy to say that I didnt give up. Truth is, I enjoy doing this, and meeting new people. I shouldve thanked those men, actually. For that matter, all of the other people who shook their heads no, or just plain old laughed in my face. This is life. There are always going to be times where you get rejected. If you want it bad enough, just keep it movin! I met one new face today to continue my journey to 100. Only 97 more to go.

Stranger #2

Sranger #2-                                                                                                                                          

Why did I choose to approach this girl? Number one, she was all alone reading while others were socializing in Easton Cafe. Number 2, she had some kick-ass bangs.

Meet Mikaela Koch. A 21yr old bio major who is in her junior year of college. I found Mikaela to be unique, in the sense that when I asked her to tell me anything about herself, besides the fact that she is a quarter indonesion (which I would've never ever thought), she immediately began to tell me about her grandpop. Her grandpop served in the army and was also in the concentration camps during World War II. He moved back here (Pennsylvania) after the war and became a janitor.

After telling me a little about her grandpop, Mikaela started to tell me about her own life a little bit. She lives off campus with her family and expressed that she has a very good family background even though her parents are divorced. This to me, explained why she started off telling me about her grandpop. Why not her mother, or father though? Why didnt I ask her? Well, I wanted her to express what she wanted to, naturally. I didnt want to keep digging into a background that wasnt necessarily being opened to me. Again, I tried to remind myself that my goal is just to approach complete strangers, and engage in somewhat of a conversation. I want the individual to tell me anything that they want, not what I want to hear. Basically, it's purpose for me, is not to be Dr. Phil.

Currently, Mikaela is a pharmacy tech and started in the summer to gain a perspective and help her in the future with her bio degree. She ultimately wants to be a physician assistant and is highly interested in neurological diseases.

While talking to her, she expressed that her favorite place in the world is Mexico. At this point, I'm thinking God has a damn good sense of humor, because as of right now, I'm anti-Mexico. Some of you may know why, but for others, it's because my best friend temporaily moved to Mexico for work and has been gone for what feels like ages. It's something about Mexico that my right hip, Kristen loves, and she wont come the heck home. I mean, it couldnt be the beautiful beaches, unlimited amounts of tequila, or the fact that she works in a resort, and meets new faces every day of her life. Nope, that just couldnt be it. Mikaela expressed that she has been to Mexico 4 times and stays in Puerto Vallarta, but she said that everytime her and her family go back, they tour more and more of the not so "tourist-like" areas. "It's broadened and opened my horizons. The people have so little but they are still so incredibly happy. They are content in their lives no matter how much they have."

All I can say to that, is PREACH on!

Stranger #1

Stranger #1-

Do you know your mailman? Yea, me either. But I had the chance to stop and meet one of Frankfords longterm mail carriers when I was photographing in the area. It's only day one, and one lady looked at me as if I was absolutely insane, another one blessed me with her cross. Which in turn, only made me want to keep searching for that one stranger who would give a shit enough to talk to me.

Meet Kathy Dial. Without talking to her, you would never know it, she's a hardworking woman, a mother of three, and upholds 3 jobs. She has been delivering mail for 18 years, bags your groceries at Acme, and serves that shot of Jack in a local bar. She admitted that bartending is her favorite, but at this point I was wondering why and how in the world she made time for all of this.

I talked to Kathy for quite awhile, longer than I thought considering she was working. During this conversation, she mentioned the amazing survival story of one of her sons, named Eric Dial. Eric has been a police officer for 12 years, and now teaches at the Police Academy. At 34, he was diagnosed with Colon Cancer which eventually spread to his liver. He has had over 20 surgeries, chemo therapy and 75% of his liver has been removed. There has been countless amount of fundraisers in his honor, and he is respectfully known all around Frankford. Medical bills have racked up, and it's been a struggle. You think you have it bad? This is why I love talking to people. Everything that you think is so wrong in your life, reconsider. There is someone out there that may be facing a bigger battle.

Erics story.
http://www.getyourrearingear.com/stories/survivor-stories/eric-dial/ - Survivor story

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