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!