shoot first

I am by no means an expert on the subject of parenting, but I do believe it’s safe to say that it is the general consensus that one of the first lessons that any parent will teach their child is to never talk to strangers. We don’t think about it much because, well, it does make sense – there are a lot of sick people out there, and infants/toddlers have yet to develop the necessary mental faculties to allow them to discern accurately between friend and foe.

This attitude is cultivated from a very early age and as a result, it can sometimes develop into an extremely deep-seated inclination to avoid individuals who are new and unfamiliar.

Ok, I don’t really understand the whole point of this exposition (read: bullshit). I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to say before I started on this entry (as if I ever do). I’ve been thinking and thinking about it for months (actually years) now and I still can’t get my head around it.

How do people who actually love each other and know each other on such an intimate (and sometimes carnal) level sometimes end up as strangers? How do those stolen moments and all that shared history turn into nothing more than figments of the imagination – as if they had never happened? How do you end up at the point where it’s as if you’ve never met that person in the first place?

How do you end up as just another stranger at the bus stop?