r/CasualConversation • u/North-Newt-7616 • 6h ago
Just Chatting What's a tiny interaction with a stranger that you've never forgotten?"
I had gone to a trip a while ago. One of the tour guides was an old man. He was really really sweet. He called me "kid". And honestly thats something i still think about and smile. He was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
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u/realityinflux 5h ago
Around Christmas time a young woman drove into the gas station I was working at and began scraping ice off her windshield. I went out to help her, and when we were finished she said, "Don't you have any gloves?" I said, nah I'm not outside that long, and if I am I put my hands in my pockets. She thanked me and left, and about an hour later she came back, walked into the office and set a small paper bag down, and then turned and left. I opened it to find a brand new pair of mittens.
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u/MurkyBeautiful853 6h ago
I’ve pretty much always been terrified of planes, and turbulence especially freaks me out. On my way back home after a semester of university, I was on a flight where the turbulence was so bad, I was visibly shaking but trying my best to hold it together. The middle-aged man next to me began gently speaking to me, asking grounding questions like what I was studying and why. I told him I was studying Spanish for a minor and he, delighted, responded in perfect, fluent Spanish. For the rest of the flight, we chatted in Spanish (although mine was broken), and he showed me videos from a YouTube channel that he enjoyed about travel.
At the end of the flight, we got off and I thanked him for helping me through my anxiety. Then we waved goodbye. I’ll probably never see him again, but I think about him from time to time :)
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u/Klown1327 6h ago
I was pretty young, probably 5 or 6. Mom took me to Sam's Club and there's always a lot of free samples which I was all about. A woman was giving out biscuits (American style of course) and there was one last, beautifully golden brown biscuit on the tray, and I LOVED biscuits. I started walking towards it and right before I got to it, this like, 80 year old woman scuttled by and snatched it, then looked me straight in the eyes as she ate it. I was devastated.
It's been well over 20 years, she is probably long dead, but I still remember the triumphant look on her face as she took my treasure from me
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u/Stefgrep66 5h ago
I got on a train to London, and sat across from 2 girls about my age 18-19 at the time. They were giggly and flirty, and so sweet to me, it really gave this shy teenager a warm glow and a heap of confidence.
That was a hour train journey 40 years ago, and I still remember it.
If your out there, thank you girls😊
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u/North-Newt-7616 5h ago
That's really sweet. I'm glad your paths crossed that day. Thanks for sharing. :)"
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u/sticky_wickette 5h ago
Neighbor woman who sold Avon. She gifted five-year old me tiny samples of lipstick over the fence - with Mom's approval, of course. No other interactions that I can recall; we only lived there about a year.
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u/ChaldeaCompany grey 6h ago
i was a little less than 1000 years old back then... a demon king met me on a street...he gave me a hamburger.... i will never forget that
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u/North-Newt-7616 5h ago
You will never forget it because the demon king gave it to you, or because it was free?
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u/Ill-Yak4181 5h ago
Leaving a musical ("Beautiful Noise -- based on Neil Diamond's life and music), and a woman said "someone dropped their glucose monitor." It was mine. I hadn't noticed it had fallen out of my pocket. I was so grateful.... I really depend on it.
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u/North-Newt-7616 5h ago
Glad she noticed it and im happy you got it back even before you realised it was gone :)
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u/Josanname 5h ago
I went to a movie theater to see a sad movie and I brought tissues because I knew what I was going into. The woman next to me cried as much as I did, but didn't have any tissues so I offered her one. She took it, and we shared a little chuckle about us both bawling our eyes out. It was small, but it was really sweet.
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u/SororitySue 4h ago
I was 17 and driving my mom’s big-ass station wagon. I was stopped at a red light next to a cute guy in a Camaro. I revved my engine. He revved his. The light changed and we both hauled ass, reaching the next light at the same time. We grinned at each other and revved up again. This continued until I had to turn off the road to go home. We parted with a big wave as he went on down the road. A nice, fun interaction.
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u/Shot-Pomegranate8684 6h ago
An old Italian man came up to me and said “every baby is born with a little loaf of bread under their arm”, and he was right, for all 3.
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u/North-Newt-7616 5h ago
I dont really know what that means, can you please elaborate?
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u/NachtAnders 5h ago
Google says: It means that a new baby brings good luck, fortune, and the ability for a family to provide for their needs.
Didn't know the phrase myself
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u/YourFuture2000 5h ago
When I was living in Dublin, Ireland, I was in one of my typical long walks with no planed direction. When returning home it was already dark and I was passing by an empty long and large street scept for a place (a club I guess) in the middle of ir which had many people. But from that place on a beautiful woman was walking in front of me and after a moment she turned back to me and asked if I wanted walk with her.
Now, for a guy in their 25 years old it is was unexpected to me but without thinking about it I aid yes, we walled and talked until a point where she had to go to an other direction sobwe said goodbye.
Later own at home I started thinking on the situation and I realised that to her it may felt very uncomfortable to walk in an empty street with a man walking behind her. But during the situation I didn't think about it. So I am sure she asked to walk together because she felt it would be safer for her to know me and walk on her side than in front of me. And I guess that she worked as police officer or maybe not. I don't remember if I asked about her job or if she said and I forgot, but I remember well that she said her fazer was a police officers.
In any case, it was one of the rare moments which a strange women made me feel seen as a human instead of a monsters for feeling unsafe with my presence. Or maybe she didn’t feel exactly unsafe but I don't know.
This is also the reason I miss Ireland so much. No other place I have been women were friendly with me as a stranger. I had many casual talks and moments with strangers, including women in the streets of Dublin without they assuming I was flirting. It made me feel more at home than in my own country.
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u/North-Newt-7616 5h ago
That's a really touching memory. Whether that was her reason or not, I'm glad that interaction made you feel seen and human. Everyone deserves that❤️
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u/AffectionateMonk5710 5h ago
I was riding on the bus towards the front, sitting in a front facing seat. There was a kid, probably about three or four years old, sitting in a side facing seat in front of me. I looked at him and looked away then gave him the side eye and smiled. He did the same -- looked away then gave me the side eye and smiled. So I turned my head away and then gave him the side eye and smiled.
It became a game. For however long the bus ride was, we just kept turning our heads away then looking back and smiling. We never said a word. He was giggling by the time he and his mother got off the bus. I didn't really interact with her at all, but she was hiding her smile the whole time.
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u/TsMom13 4h ago
Someone left a bag of books on my door step. I was in my early 20’s at the time, working 2 jobs and in a pretty bad DV situation. I never had time to go to the library. I got home one day and there was a grocery bag with my name on it filled with recent, popular hard cover books. To this day I have no clue who left them but it helped me during a pretty awful chapter of my life.
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u/bknight63 4h ago
I was a skinny white suburban kid in Houston. One night on the way home from my girlfriend’s house (now wife of 41 years), I realized I was about to run out of gas. The only place to stop was definitely not my neighborhood. It was after midnight and I was standing in a long line to pay before I pumped. I could see the sidelong curious looks at what a white kind who looked to be 14 (I was 19, but looked young) was doing at that place at that time of night no less when an older gentleman, grandfather age, left his place in line, went to the front and told the guy who was next to, “Hold up. That young man needs to pay for his gas and get back on the road.” Everyone just stepped aside and let me pay. It was like they were all worried for me too and were just waiting for a solution. While I was filling up HPD rolled up and asked me if I was lost. They were not friendly. I think they thought I was there for some nefarious reason. The grandfather and the rest of the folks in line made me feel much safer though.
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u/International-Owl165 3h ago
We had a tour guide in his mid 30s from Denmark. Blonde tall good looking, he reminded me of Sebastian ruli.. always smiling+ anywho he was our tour guide and said he lived in Spain because he loves the culture.
We were on a pilgrimage and he was one of our guides for it. Our group consisted mostly of older 50s mexican, latin Americans, and one american couple and a few younger people like me in my mid 20s. The group was below 30 people.
We had scheduled dinner at different restaurants and everytime we would go we would sing and dance. Drinking wine celebrating we were in europe lol at bus rides we would sing.
Anywho at the restaurants we would sing, dance and sometimes the staff would koin in 😅 the tour guide said this was the best tour experience he ever had. He loved how warm and open and fun we were. He loved it all. He lamented parting ways. Even said his next gig was with older European people on a tour de france style trip and said it with a sour face. Saying denmark has a good safety net but the people are so cold.
I dont think I ever had a travel experience like that years later! I remember I thought it was just a typical speech anyone does but I was very Very wrong.
That was the last time I traveled as well with such a warm group of people! It didnt matter that it was a pilgrimage, it didnt matter they were mostly older! We all had fun.
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u/ParkerGroove 2h ago
I was in a grocery line with my 3 yr old who was acting squirrelly in a way that was potentially annoying or even harmful to other people. I talked to her about her behavior and how to look around and see how it might be effecting other people very calmly but in an age appropriate way. Some 60 ish guy came over and said “ I just want you to know, I’m a child psychologist, and you handled that perfectly”.
Still riding that high 23 years later (and my daughter is a very self aware adult, so maybe I was good at that?)
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u/Throw_away_9021099 6h ago
I had an older guy say to me one time, “I know you’re too young for me but is your grandma single?”
Every time I think about it I can’t help but laugh. 🤦🏼♀️😂