Do Not Talk To Strangers

No do not, really.

Do we still tell kids to not talk to strangers? And do not take candies from them, too?

One time in the airport while waiting for my flight back from Bangkok to Manila, I moved away from my group to find a solitary spot and read. Kidding. We were not seated close to each other. There were a lot of people that time and it was super early in the morning flight and a voice from the PA just announced that our flight will be delayed even more. I super did not mind the distance I need it at that time.

My social battery was getting super low and I am feeling the drain just by seeing the crowd. There was no coffee in sight. There was no vending machine either. I retreated to the yellow covers.

I was not more than fifteen minutes in my reading when the person seated on my left stood up and left to go some place. Few seconds later, a man maybe he is around mid 40s (but how would I know, right? I have not placed my profiling skills to the test), sat on the chair where the previous "seatmate" was. Then he started to speak.

I got kind of bit scared because it felt like he was talking to himself.

He cannot be talking to me, right? I had my face buried in the book.

I thought maybe he has an earphone on and he was talking on the phone. But he is most definitely not. Just to check, I looked up from the book to the direction and sure enough he was waiting for a response from me.

I only caught "book" from his first remark. Confused and a little half and half present on the now, I replied, "I'm sorry?"

He smiled and repeated his statement. He said something about the book I am reading and that the author was Swiss or something.

I double-checked the section about the the author because I was sure I read the author was American. After flipping the book over to check on that detail, I responded, "It says he is American. You must have mistaken him for another author? Have you read his works?"

I was actually surprised I was responding politely. But the man had that dad feel about him. I cannot get myself to be rude and there feels to be no reason to. Besides, it is just a conversation that opened with a mistaken nationality of an author. For sure, it will end quick.

Of course, I thought wrong.

He said that this author may already be American but his lineage came from Switzerland. Then the conversation gradually shifted to which flight are we waiting for? Were we there for a connecting flight?

I found out he came from a long haul from Sweden. And he already ran out of sleepiness because he has been sleeping in his flights. He has a business there and he is just heading for Davao to finally meet up with his Filipina fiancé and her family and hopefully convince his fiancé finally to go back to Sweden with him. If my memory from our conversation was correct, he met her in Sweden. I was not sure of the other details because our conversation was on full course random things Swedish.

He asked me about my trip in Thailand. He thought I was on vacation.

I told him I was working as an undercover for the CIA and started fishing out my business card and handed it out to him. Hehe just checking if you are still reading. No agent does that. I told him I was there for supporting a project implementation.

He asked me what I liked about Thailand, food that I ate, and any place I have toured since I was there. Some conversation that for some reason, got me engaged. He was trying to picture Thailand through my experience because he said he did not have time to explore the place himself. It is his first time going to Asia. I mentioned to him that Thais also have good massages. To which he laughed and lightly objected. I forgot I was talking to a Swedish.

I told him I would like to travel with my friends in Sweden soon too. Because we saw pictures of how nice it is. And somewhere along the line the thought of going to Iceland was mentioned to see the Aurora Borealis with my friends.

Then he showed me pictures of his fiancé and and himself enjoying the snow from his backyard - with none other than the Aurora Borealis visible in the night sky. He lives somewhere snowy and his backyard is none other than an open theater of dancing lights. How awesome is that?

Then as we start running out of things to talk about, he asked if I tried any Swedish licorice before. I told him I am not into candies specially licorices because they have sour aftertastes that kind of stays in the palette longer than I would want them to.

He chuckled a bit as he pulled one packet out. He said he bought tons of it from his hometown and planned to give some to his fiancé's nieces and nephews. He would like to see my reaction first. I calculated the risk I was getting myself into. I looked around and made a mental check on where my other colleagues are and if at least one of them is awake.

The man continues as he takes one first for himself. Safe check then, eh? The he placed one on my palm. I studied the candy suspiciously. It is a black rock, hard candy, covered with white powder of unknown.

When I popped it into my mouth, the man had humor on his face. As the candy settled in my mouth, it started to explode the most distinct flavor it possesses - very salty. Like popping a teaspoon of salt in your mouth.

The man started laughing because of the look on my face. I grabbed the packet and read that it is salty. I did not know what to do with the salt, I wanted to spit it out. Good thing he said I can spit it out on a tissue. So I did.

"What kind of licorice was that?" I asked.

He said it is the candy that is well-loved in his hometown. Though he knows it will not be liked, he bought anyway. He said his Filipina fiancé did not like it.

"I was like I do not think anyone would like that," I said as I silently apologized to my kidneys for the amount of salt that is headed their way.

I cannot remember how our conversation ended and whose flight came first. But it was one notable experience for when I violated two golden security rules:

1. Don't talk to strangers.

2. Don't eat the candies they will give.

I would say breaking that, non-purposefully, turned into a slight tour and a glimpse of Swedish likes (salty licorice?) that got stuck with me for a long time and got to share here.

In partial closing thoughts:

I learned...

• Strangers do talk

• and they do give candies.

  So yes, do continue to tell your kids to be cautious about talking to strangers.

In another partial closing thought:

It is cool to talk to strangers some time given some circumstances provided you are in a safe place and the conversation does not deviate from being wholesome.

In one more partial closing thought:

It just occurred to me that some love stories start with strangers talking. Does that involve candy? Never mind. I am babbling.

What are your conversations with strangers like?

Thank you for reaching this far. If you liked it, kinda liked it let me know.

©️ Pichi28

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