Stranger #48

Meet Alyssa.

"I'm 24 and I want to deliver babies as my career! I'm a grad student, and I'm in a PA program. The reason I want to deliver babies as my career  is because I just love it. As cheesy as it sounds, it's beautiful, and it's the miracle of life!"- Alyssa

Stranger #47

Meet Aaron Lee.

"I'm in the Army, and I've been serving for about 3 years. I was a religion major when I was in college, and I actually roomed with half a dozen criminal justice majors. I was interested in seeing what different people believed in. I'll tell you that the mission we're on is homeland defense and any time that there is a major occurrence such as an earthquake, we go in and answer to FEMA and/or civil authorities. A lot of people think that when the military is called that we take over, but we actually don't do anything unless we are told to!"- Aaron

Stranger #46

Meet Ali Alhelal.  

"My dad is Saudi and my mom is Sicilian. I'm 26, and still in school. I started at Montgo in 2004, and transferred to Arcadia in 2008 after receiving my associates degree. That was the biggest waste of time, it's useless. I have an associates in general studies, and it might as well be written in crayon. I've been playing the drums since 8th grade. The brand of my hat makes the symbols that I hate to use, but it was free! I learned to play jazz on the drums, and from there I picked up rock and everything else. I'm also a painter. I tried to get into a high school studio art program while I was in middle school, but my teacher thought that I wouldn't be able to keep up academically which is obviously crap, but oh well. I have the knowledge, but not the credentials. I had a very very small exhibit at the Keswick coffee shop in October. My style is street art, I used to be "that kid." I got in trouble too many times for writing on the walls. Its something that you don't grow out of apparently." - Ali

Stranger #45

Meet Cookie.

"When I was a baby, I was a chubby baby, and my grandmom used to call me kuckla. Kukla means cake/cookie in yiddish, and it just stuck with me. My real name is Karen, but everyone knows me as Cookie. I even had my chhecking account changed to that name and all. I've been retired for 5 years, but before I retired I was a controller for a law firm. Now that I'm retired, I do whatever I want! I go to adult centers to mingle, but I should exercise more. I've been married to my husband for 38 years, and he is my best friend! I have one dog whose 8 years old and his name is mini-max. I have 3 children, and the youngest is 39. I also have 4 grandchildren, the oldest is 26, and the youngest is 16. It's so different now that they're grown, they're not babies anymore and they all have their own lives. I dont own a cellphone, or own a computer. I'm not into the whole social networking or technology thing. It's not that I dont know how to use any of it, because I could learn, but I just dont want to.  I'm more spirtual than religious. I just dont go for the dogma. I do follow Kabbalah. Kabbalah is about doing good in your heart, and to get to God if you believe in God. If I'm a good person, I'm a good person. It doesnt matter what you believe in."- Cookie

Stranger #44



Stranger #44

Meet Bryn Higgins.

"My hair color changes before I take any test. I dye my hair before every test because they're both a process. Dying your hair is a process, and studying is as well. So, as I'm coloring, I study my flash cards! One time my hair had five different colors, but in general I've been any color from black to neon orange. I'm pretty surprised that I still have hair left, but I do own wigs so its okay. I have a lot of  wigs because of certain jobs. No one really approves of my hair so I have to cover it up which sucks because this is me!"- Bryn

Stranger #43

Stranger #43

Meet Bob.

"I'm a 57 year old retired union carpenter. I've been married for 33 years, and you're just in luck because I love to talk to people! I have a daughter and two sons. Since I've been retired, I take my dogs for walks in the park, and bicycle. I'm that person that never had much time to myself when I worked; I never had much relax time at all. So, I take people to their doctors appointments, I watch my grandchildren, and I help people whenever I can. I'm a scout leader, and I have been for 20 years. I try to stay active with that!"- Bob

Stranger #42

Stranger #42-

Meet Regina Moran.

"I'm a social worker and I love helping people. I graduated from Neumann University, and I've been doing social work for two years now!" - Regina

Stranger #41

Stranger #41-

Meet Kim Franklin.

"As you can see, I work at Rite-Aid as a shift supervisor and I've been working here for 7 years. I work too much! Honestly, my grandchildren are my life. I have four! Their ages are  4, 2, 18 months, and 7 months. It made having kids so worth it!"- Kim Franklin

Stranger #40

Stranger #40-

Meet Larry Mayhem.

I love different types of people. People who say or do things without giving a shit about what other people may think of them or how they may be judged. The people who do what they want because it makes them happy, not to fit in with or please society. Larry had checkered hair, and it was awesome. By his demeanor, and how much he told me, I could tell that he was one of these people. He was so brutally honest, and opened up about more than I could have ever assumed, but it made for a really good conversation. Larry is 31 and the first thing he chose to tell me was that he's single. So, I told him that I blog about my experience with those that I meet, and maybe someone would be reading and would be interested. So, I asked him what type of person he was looking for, and all he responded with was "I dont want no scrubs." I couldnt help but laugh! (and think of the song itself by TLC) I continued with "that's all your looking for?" and he said "yup!"

Larry began to tell me more about himself and said that when he was younger he attended Shallcross, (a disciplinary school in Philadelphia) and went to West Chester for a 1 1/2, majored in Philosophy, and dropped out. He's an assistant district engineer, and said "I love drinking, but my liver doesnt love alcohol!" He added "I know a lot of DJ's so I go out to the clubs and do some social networking." Larry drives an Evo, and goes to car shows. His evo is his 23rd car, and said going to car shows is just something fun to do. He continued to tell me more about himself and said "I'm not a player. I may come off that way when someone see's me, but I'm not. I like to be different. All of my tattoos have a meaning unlike all of these other douchebags who just get them for the hell of it. There's a show called Gigolos, and I'm thinking that I may be one of them. I dont know what it is, but I make people feel beautiful, I have the skills, and my cuddle skills are off the hook but I cant find the right girl. I work hard, and just come home to my dog. I have an English bull terrior! We all have hard lives, and what doesnt kill us makes us stronger. My mom is an alcoholic, and an addict. Last time I talked to her was 4 years ago when she sued me. I will never talk or socialize with her, I actually despise her! She smokes crack, and she's a hooker. I tried to commit suicide when I was 11 because of her abuse. I took a rope and hung myself in the basement. My tounge was out of my mouth, eyes were bulging out, and everything but someone found me. I'm really close with my dad, but I will never forgive her."

Eventually we moved away from this conversation and got on the topic of the bar scene and such. Larry admitted "instead of spending $200 at a bar nowadays, honestly if I'm in a lot of pain from working, i'll take a perk10, have a couple beers and I'm good. I dont find anything wrong with this." Larry has indulged in other drugs that I'm going to leave unsaid, but he did say that he thinks marijuana should be legalized. He doesnt smoke it, but he emphasized "the worst thing that marijuana does to you is give you the munchies!" He said that he would never go to a recovery meeting unless it was a "nympho anonymous" meeting. He thinks that it would be "fucking funny, because none of those people actually have a problem. What is the problem with too much sex? It doesnt hurt anyone! Those people that go and pay doctors to tell them what's wrong with them are crazy. They all need to come to me and pay me so that I can tell them that they dont have a fucking problem, the doctors are the crazy ones!"

"Everyone can talk shit, but my past makes me a better person."- Larry

Stranger #39

I dropped my mom off at a meeting today. Not your typical meeting, such as a work meeting, but an AA meeting. My mom has been in and out of recovery for 10 years, and has been sober for 19 months. Telling anyone this information doesnt bother or embarrass me one bit, it's a part of me, and I'm very proud of her. I thank god for this program every day of my life because it has brought my family back together. Through my moms addiction and struggles, it's made me into the person that I am today. Watching her go through what she went through, and what we all went through with her has proved my strength, and showed me what I would never want for my own life. It was the hardest thing that I've ever had to experience, but life was never promised to be easy. Today, with her determination to stay sober along with the support that the program as well as myself, friends and family offers to my mom, I have her by my side again. It's such a wonderful feeling, a feeling that I would never trade for the world.

When I pulled over to drop my mom off, I saw a girl standing outside. I told my mom that I wanted to go up to her and tell her about my project. My ma told me that she was in AA, but if I wanted to go up to her then "go for it." So, I did exactly that. I wasnt expecting her to tell me much, if anything at all, because it's an anonymous program, but I went up to her anyway. My mom walked up to one of her other friends as I walked up to her, introduced myself, and explained the purpose of my blog!

Meet Danielle Cooley.

"I'm in AA, but I'm also a recovering drug addict. I'm 23 and have a 7 year old daughter, and the ony thing I want in life is to keep getting better. I was addicted to all types of pills, and dope. I've been clean for almost 30 days. I want to work with people like myself. I've been through a lot. I was molested and raped. If I were to give someone that can relate or may be going through some of the same problems, I would say that you need to reach out, you can get help no matter what!" - Danielle

Stranger #38

Stranger #38-

Today I went to the Farmers Market to get some goodies and wound up talking to one of the workers there named Susan. She's been working at the market for 10 years, and mentioned that everyone who works there is either Amish or mennoite. She was a tad shy, and just smiled really big while I was talking to her. Since she was working, it became a little difficult to hold any type of conversation with her. I had a feeling before I even asked that she may not want her picture taken, but being me, I tried anyway! Well, my feeling was right. It was hard to be disappointed because she kept this smile on her face the whole time we talked, and apoligized that she wasnt allowed to have her picture taken. Even though she wasnt meant to be put on the blog, it's always really nice to meet sweet people like Susan.

Since I was already in the market, and Susan didnt want to smile for my camera,  I figured I would go up to another person while I was in there. This is when I had the pleasure of meeting Dawn.

Meet Dawn Hollywood.

"I have a short, yet sweet story for ya! I'm a 46 year old recovering alcoholic. I've been clean and sober for 3 1/2 years through the grace of god. My daughter who is 17 is my inspiration!"- Dawn

Stranger #37

Stranger #37-

Meet Georgia Cook.

"I'm from Massachusetts, about 20 minutes Northwest of Boston. I'm a graphic design major and after graduation, I want to move back home and work for a firm in Boston if I can. I chose to come to Arcadia to study abroad! I spent a semester abroad in Australia, and I loved it! You never hear any bad experiences when people tell you that they went to Australia, it's great there! I eventually want to go back. On campus, I'm involved with the Knight club which is a dance club. I grew up dancing, danced in middle and high school, and continued here! Goodluck, I hope you meet all 100 people!" - Georgia

Stranger #36

Stranger #36-

Meet Cathy Canrolina.

"I'm in my first year of college, and I'm a criminal justice major. I was born here (in the United States) but I lived in Germany for 3 years when I was 7. My family moved there because my dad was offered a job with the Department of Defense, and then we moved back home for his work. Living in Germany was hard to get used to because of the culture shock. I really liked coming home! When I graduate, I would love to go into forensic science or become a criminal profiler." -Cathy

Stranger #35

Meet Paul.

"Well, something about myself is that I may be going on channel 10 news! I've been having a lot of problems with my landlord lately. I watch NBC more than the other news channels, and i'll be contacting them, so you might see me on TV! I'm really interested in cars, but what guy isnt? I have a '97 Crown Victorian but I love old, classic cars. The cars of today are terrible, there's something wrong with the body style or something. I do like some of the minivans though, just like that one! (points at the van that drives by) The new cars of today just dont jump out at me. I love Nascar, and baseball would be my second favorite sport. For most, baseball would probably come first, but that's not the case for me! I used to do construction but I messed my back up. Doing construction for 23 years will take its toll on you, which is why I'm on disability. I've been looking to buy a house because I rent right an apartment now. I've been looking in Bensalem, but the prices are really high! (It was crazy when he said this considering 45 minutes before I talked to Paul, I looked at a house for sale in Bensalem!) I have to tell you, so many people like you come up to me to talk to me. I dont know why, but I have time; I'm just taking a break and eating a pretzel. I'm going to go down to Rite Aid after this. Goodluck with your project!"- Paul

Stranger #34

Stranger #34-

Meet Oxsana.

"I'm originally from Russia, born and raised. I came to America to live the American dream! I work for a pharmaceutical company. All of my family is back in Russia; I'm the only one that came over here. I havent gone back in 10 years, but I'm going to visit for the first time since I've moved here over the summer. I have a dog named Sasha, she is a lab/german shep/husky mix. I'm really happy here, and I've met a lot of people!"- Oxsana

Stranger #33

Stranger #33-

Meet Don Amole.

"I used to be a huge golfer, but I injured my back and thumb. For my 60th birthday my sons bought me a metal detector. I go to random parks on my lunch break and look for old coins. It's become my hobby. I've always liked to collect old coins! They bought the metal detector for me in November, and I've found about $20.00 worth of quarters, and a good amount of dimes, but nothing collectible. I'm looking for coins that are older than 1964 or so, when coins were actually made in pure silver. It's a short story, but this is what I love to do for fun!" - Don

Stranger #32

Stranger #32-

Meet Margaret Hoffman.

"I'm 87. I live in the area. I have two children, I'm a grandmom, and also a great grandmom! Before I retired, I was a RN and worked at the old Frankford hospital. I grew up in Ohio, and met my husband in a bar in Florida. He lived here in Philadelphia, so I moved here. We've been married for almost 70 years!"

Margaret was a bit of a jokester. When I told her that I was going to take her picture, she asked "can you put a smile on my face or something, ya know, edit some teeth in, or make my hair windblown", then added "I dont take good pictures, I look just like myself!" I appreciate a good sense of humor, and Margaret was a trip! She told me that she loved talking to people, and admired what I was doing. As I was getting ready to walk away, with a smile on her face, Margaret said  "you just made my day!" It was by far the best moment of my day actually, and that's including the awesome french vanilla iced coffee that I drank a half hour prior!

Keep following! =]

Stranger #31

Stranger #31-

One of the best yet worst parts of doing this project is the fact that you never know who you're going to approach and what they're going to say. Meeting Jennifer and listening to what she chose to tell me actually made me sad, and if I'm completely honest, her story at one point brought tears to my eyes. Although I love it when people arent afraid to open up, sometimes how much they open up really catches me off guard! When I started doing this and talking to random people who don't know me from Adam, I assumed that they may be timid, possibly shy or taken back by what I was doing. I've gone up to 31 different people, and I've learned that my assumptions for the most part have been proven wrong. I've learned a lot just by giving them an open ear. Jennifer helped reinforce that we need to be grateful and appreciate anyone and anything that is essential to us in our lives, because they may not be present tomorrow.

Meet Jennifer Duffy.

"I'm the manager at Dunkin Donuts right down the street. I have two girls, one is 10, and the other is 11. I've been going through a lot actually. I buried my mother who was 55 last Thursday. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. My mom had a stroke which put her in the hospital. While she was there, they ran more tests because something just wasnt right. She was in Jefferson and was informed that she had lung cancer. We transferred her to Fox Chase Cancer Center and was told that the cancer had spread, and there was absolutely nothing that we could do. The worst part about all of it was that I didnt get to say bye to my mom. I asked for time off two weeks before she passed, and they told me no. A week later, she passed, and I wasnt there. After everything that happened, I went to the doctor due to extremely bad pains in my head. The doctor told me I have a tumor that has to be removed, and they arent sure if it's cancerous. It's been rough lately, but I tell myself and my children to cherish the time that you have, life is short!"- Jennifer

Stranger #30

Stranger #30-

Meet Kim. 

"I work in the medical field, and was recently laid off. I hope to get back to work! I love to bake, I actually rather bake than cook. On the weekends, I love to relax and enjoy a nice glass of wine. I own two classic mustangs, a '91 and a '67! I love going to car shows, and  I've always loved mustangs! I just got the '67. I was looking all over for one, and finally found it! My '91 mustang has been in car shows, and I plan on having the '67 in some shows!" - Kim

Stranger #29

Stranger #29

Meet Beverly Beck

"My husband passed from cancer (melanoma) last summer. He had it 20 years ago, and they thought they got rid of it all, but it came back. He fought the cancer for 15 months, and then passed away. He donated his body to science, so we are hoping that helps somebody somewhere. We have 3 kids, and our 25th anniversary is approaching in November. His goal was to be able to see our youngest graduate from grade school, and he did, he made it to see that! He didnt make it to see our oldest from graduating college, our big anniversary or my 50th birthday, but losing him really made me see the good in people. Everyone has been helping me a lot, cheering me up and sending flowers. Walking with friends has helped a lot too! Everyone out there is going through their own thing, I'm thankful and lucky for what I have, I try not to think about what I dont have!"- Beverly

Stanger #28

Stranger #28

Meet John Willis.

"Fishing is one of my favorite past times. I'd rather do this than work! I'm on social security because I can't work. I have diabetes and liver damage. Before I started collecting social security, I was a construction worker. I bring my cat around with me, he's actually in my truck right now! We hang out, and look for stripers! Last week, I actually caught a huge catfish! It's great out here (near the Delaware river), even if I'm not fishing, just to relax, and have a beer. I love it!" - John

Stranger #27

Stranger #27-

Meet Harry. He grew up in the Parkwood area of Philadelphia all of his life, but after talking, I found out that Harry actually lives two blocks from me! What a small small world.

"Well, I own an auto repair shop called P & D Auto Repair in Maple Shade. I'm married, been married for 27 years, and I have two children. I have a dirtball dog (laughs) who is a pit/king corso mix and his name is Angel. A great name for a Pit right?" - Harry

Harry and I started conversing about what I was in school for. "Are you in school to be a journalist or something" he says, I replied with "actually, not even close! I'm a criminal justice major, I graduate in May!" Harry started to give me a lot of hope (insert sarcasm here) after I told him my field of study by cleverly adding that his partners daughter graduated with a criminal justice degree as well and has been searching for jobs everywhere, even surrounding states! Needless to say, she's been unsuccessful. Well, thank you Harry, I appreciate the honesty! haha

Keep following! =)

Stranger #26

Stranger #26-

This man may look familiar to you! Does Cottman and Frankford Ave ring a bell? Yep! He stands on this corner almost every day in March until the 17th, wears a badass beard, and sells awesome hats in addition to other St. Paddys day related accessories!

Meet Arnie.

"My father did the same thing 50 years ago, this is why I'm out here. He sold hats and such just for St. Paddys Day too. I'm retired,  but doing this gets me out, and gets me to see the world!" - Arnie

If ya happen to walk by Arnie on the street, say hi to him! He's very nice! :)

Stranger #25

Stranger #25-

Meet Zakiya. Zakiya is a transfer student, a psychology major and is unsure of what she wants to do with her future. Zakiya chose to tell me-

"I had an accident over the summer. I was using a cane for 3 months because I couldnt walk at all. I'm getting better now"

I could sense while talking to Zskiya that she was a little timid and seemed nervous to talk to me, even though she was slightly smiling at times.I've been very lucky thus far with the awesome people that I've met, but if you think about it, I'm just as much of a stranger to them as they are to me. It's understandable that she didnt really want to get into details with me; she doesnt truly know me!
Doing this project, the last thing I want to do is discomfort anyone, or post anything about themselves that they really dont feel comfortable with, even if they used their own discretion on what they've chosen to tell me. I made sure to confirm that she was ok with everything, and I also asked her if she was okay with me putting her identity and words on a blog. I think she appreciated this, and made her feel more at ease. Truth is, I honestly do care how people feel. Even people I dont know or have a personal tie with. Zakiya may not have been that open, but I now know her name just incase I see her around campus! This is my sole purpose, and she told me all that she wanted to.

I've met 25 different people. I'm proud of that!

Stranger #24

Stranger #24-

What a gorgeous day! We've been so lucky with this spring-like weather in Philly! I had a crazy agenda today between going to class, needing to study for midterms, shoot pictures for a photography class, and of course, meet another stranger. I didnt think that I was going to meet this person while photographing in the park today, but Megans dog, Tank ran right up to me! He was honestly one of the prettiest dogs that I've ever seen! Megan was laughing as she ran behind him, so I thought it was perfect timing to say hi, introduce myself, and tell her about my project!

Meet Megan Synder. Megan is 23, and is a dance instructor, and still currently dances herself. She teaches all types of dance, from ballet to hiphop for toddlers to advanced classes. Megan is married, and today actually marked her 5 year anniversary with her husband! She happened to tell me that she wasnt having such a great day. Megan further explained, "I was coming home from Christina Luis Memorial park, and I saw a dog. The dog looked like it was charging, so I grabbed Tank. I know all the neighborhood dogs, but I didnt know this one. The dog didnt have a collar or a leash on, and I didnt even see its owner. A dump truck came charging and hit the dog. I was devastated; I started crying. I didnt know what to do!" As we were going back and forth about the incident, we agreed, regardless of how awfully sad the situation was, the dog should have definitely been on a leash. It sucks that the owner had to learn that way, and lost a dog, but you need to be more mindful of what could happen when you let a dog run loose. Even worse, Megan saw the whole thing. We spoke for a pretty good amount of time which led us into talking about her own dog, Tank!

Tank was awesome! He was so friendly, and guess what? He is a pit mix! I hate the rep that these dogs have because they're so incredibly sweet! Like any other dog, they just need proper training. Tank will be 8 months and he is over 75 pounds. He is a rescue dog and he was kept in a cage all day before Megan became his owner. Megan said "He is the best thing that has ever happened to me!" She also rescued a cat, who she named Taz. She found him under a  car one night and decided to take him in. I had a great conversation with Megan, she was such a sweetheart! Meeting people like Megan further exemplifies that I'm doing something right by doing this project. Meeting both, her and Tank actually made my day!

Keep following :)

Stranger #23

Stranger #23-

Meet Melanie Tanada. Melanie is a senior and is in the process of finishing up her last 2 months as an undergrad. Melanie has been taking guitar lessons and playing for fun, which helped contribute to her interest in learning how to play a ukulele as well!

"I've just been working on my graduating thesis. For my thesis, I'm doing a study on restrictive U.S immigration policies and how it effects immigrants who remit money back to their home country. After graduating, ill be working in Turkey. Last summer I participated in a summer program for Robert College which takes place in Istanbul. It's 8 1/2 weeks, and its a program to help teach English to children through a variety of performing arts! I also applied to a graduate program for international affairs but I'm heavily involved with campus life. I'm the president of student programming board here, and I would love to be programming a campus life! D.C is where the graduate program is, but at the same time, I would love to go back home to Vegas, I miss being on the West coast!"

Stranger #22

Stranger #22-

Meet Emily.

"My lucky number is 22, and my absolute favorite team is the Flyers. They've been in my family for awhile so I just picked up on it. Other than that, I dont like sports, and I hate football! (Insert my jaw dropping facial expression here) Although, soccer's not too bad! I actually make sure to watch the World Cup. I believe when I watched it, I only missed two games or something like that!" Last but not least, her favorite quote is an amazing quote by Dalai Lama, "My religion is my kindness."

Keep following my journey!

Stranger #21

Stranger #21-

Meet Brittany. A junior, bio major, who plans on going into forensics in the future.

"I was in band, and I played clarinet for 5 years, but I dont play anymore. I live on campus, and I'm kinda nerdy! I love classical music, and that's something people would never guess just by looking at me!"

Stranger #20

Stranger #20-

When I was younger, I basically knew everyone on my block. Those days were the shit! People actually knocked for eachother, and spent their time outside socializing instead of wasting time on facebook. Remember playing freedom, wallball, and basketball in the driveways? It feels like so much has changed, and it has. I actually just met my neighbor today. It's difficult because people just move in and out, and in then out, but there is absolutely no unity in neighborhoods anymore. This is why, amongst many other reasons, neighorhoods are going south. Noone talks to anyone else. Every man fend for yourself type of deal. It shouldnt be that way. I'm not saying that each and every neighborhood is like this, but too many are this way already. One day you may need this person, or they may need you, for anything, and you dont even know eachothers name. I'm guilty of it too, but I find it really sad, so I did something about it.

Meet Tomina Moylan, my neighbor. Tomina has a husband and an 8 year old boy, named Logan. Tomina met her husband when she was in 9th grade, and he was in 8th. They have been together for 16 years, and hes the only guy that she has ever kissed, and been with sexually. Tonya says "I found my good guy, and I'm never letting go!" Tomina is very family orientated and her family is her world. She spends most of her time with her nephews and son. Tomina continued "My son is my world. I've been blessed with the best kid on earth. Everyone loves him because hes extremely loving and respectful. I'm determined to raise a gentleman!"

Life hasnt always been the easiest for Tomina. Tomina disclosed "I have epilepsy. It was really bad when I was a child. Its tamed down a lot since then but 5 months ago, I was standing at the top of my basement steps, and had a seizure out of no where. I fell down the steps and smacked into the cement wall. My son found me and ran to contact 911. I was knocked out for about 5-10 minutes, and woke up gushing blood. I lost all of my teeth due to what happened, but the worst part was my son finding me like that." Tomina plans to get her teeth fixed in the next few months. Its going to cost her $7000.00 because her husbands insurance, who works for the postal service, will only cover 25% of it. Tomina added "I want to look for work again, but I want my teeth to be fixed. People judge me for having no teeth. Ive been called white trash, and a meth addict. It's not right!"

Stranger #19

Stranger #19-

You may be wondering why I have a picture of a dog as my stranger. Although it probably wouldnt surprise you, I actually did get the chance to speak with his handler standing to the left of him! Matt, a k9 police officer who has been a cop for 15 years isnt allowed to have his picture taken when he is on duty. Matt felt pretty bad that he wasnt able to allow me to take his picture but I would never want to jeopardize his career, so, I took a picture of his partner in crime, Fritz instead!

Meet Matt Mocharnuk. Again, Matt is a k9 handler, and cop for Philadelphia. Him and his k9 partner, Fritz are together, literally 24 hours a day. They live together, and their bond is so tight that even Matts Fiance, just recently was able to pet him. He's extremely protective of Matt. As I was walking up to them, I knew to ask how close I was able to get to them. Matt said that I wasnt able to get too close because Fritz would kill me (he didnt use these words, but I could tell you that it couldve been the outcome. The dog looked hungry!) Matt and I stood about 6 feet apart during the entire conversation, but meeting Matt was perfect timing. My graduating thesis that I'm writing is 30 pages (with more to go) about K9s, training, breeds, their effectiveness, and how they are portrayed in the media. Ive been researching this topic for months, and it was beyond amazing for me to be able to run in and talk with someone who has hands on experience instead of reading countless amounts of newspaper articles. Not to mention, I obviously love talking to people, and German Sheps are my favorite dogs ever!

Fritz is 3 years old and hes been working for the PPD and with Matt for two years. He's a bomb sniffing dog, and was put through 6 months of training (14 weeks of patrol and 10 weeks of explosive sniffing training) as well as twice a month upkeep training sessions. Fritz's price tag was $7000.00, and was flown in from Czechoslovakia. You'll never guess who donated the money so that this dog can be purchased to help fight crime for the PPD. If you give up, the person plays in the NFL. If you truly give up, his name is Ben Roethlisberger. Matt also told me that Ben, aside from being a quarterback actually has a charity dedicated to police dogs. I never knew that he had this charity, and regardless of what people say and what he has/hasnt done, I love the idea of it. Being a hardcore Eagles fan, ya know, I wont get into football, but if you read how hard it is to establish a k9 unit, and how effective these dogs are, you may possibly agree that this is a great thing!

Matt also chose to tell me that Fritz is a dog that is used to search any hotel rooms, or premises that anyone head of state, president, vice president, etc. steps foot in. Matt says that there are about 32 dogs working for the city. Of those dogs, 15 are explosive sniffing dogs, 15 narcotic dogs, and 2 cadavar dogs. Fritz is obviously extremely effective, and a great addition to the PPD.

See all that you can learn just by talking to someone around you?

Stranger #18

Stranger #18-

Did you say hi to anyone who walked past you today? I did. Not only did I say hello, but I introduced myself and conversed with one of those people too!

Meet Alexa. This is what Alexa chose to tell me-

"I'm 19, and I am a sophmore from New Jersey. I know, not one of the best states to say that I'm from. I am a health administration major and I have no fucking clue what I want to do when I graduate, no fucking clue at all. All I know is that I will be working in a hospital. My first kiss was in back of a storage room, right next to a broken elevator. I'm in love with one direction!"

My response? One direction, meaning....? Alexa says back "oh, (she laughs) a British band, they're awesome!"