Poll: What Might Make The Nice Thing Nicer?
This week I realized that The Nice Thing About Strangers has been up and running for just over two years. Glory! I started this project hoping to get some use … Continue reading
Sweet Kids. The Airplane Edition.
Before we board, the mother in the pink Adidas t-shirt leaves her two daughters with her husband as she storms away to take a call, announcing to the gate area, … Continue reading
Places I’ve Gone on Account of a Book
I read a book one day and my whole life was changed…Where were the kindred spirits with whom I could talk? Where was the country in which I’d find the … Continue reading
Just Enough
Post-fender-bender, the two men pull into the bus station parking lot to inspect the damage. Those of us waiting for buses watch with delight any activity that may pass the … Continue reading
Tell Me.
There was a storytelling code of solidarity—you did not sabotage someone else’s narration if it was satisfying to the audience, or you could expect one of your stories to be … Continue reading
Split Scenes
The teenage girl wears a tshirt that reads: “Love My Smile,” but she isn’t smiling. She stands next to an ad for shoes where none of the models are smiling. … Continue reading
Groove, Death, Italians
“Groove is in the Heart” is on the radio and the Italian tourists are certain that we’re all going to die. For me, the pace and aggressive passing of Croatian … Continue reading
Follow The Turtle
I’d lost track of how many bridges I’d crossed, which was not my first mistake, but one among many. I thought I had been retracing my steps, but must have … Continue reading
And Are You Happy (As You Wait)?
Sometimes your heart’s desire hung from the highest branch of the highest tree and you could never climb high enough to reach it. Or else you just waited patiently and … Continue reading
Consolation
I love that if you’re writing in a notebook in public, everyone thinks you might be a spy. A spy of sorts, I suppose, but not a very glamorous one, … Continue reading
There There
He is the man with dark, well-slicked hair and a perfectly pressed dress shirt–imposing even in the shuttle to the airplane. He helps a little old lady move her suitcase … Continue reading
In and Out of Love
All this time you are doing important things like falling in and out of love–things which broaden and deepen and strengthen the character more surely than anything else. I can … Continue reading
Tourists and Toy Cars
The metro screeches. People wearing headphones are only posing, as almost nothing can be heard, especially when the train arches around corners. A mother and her four-year-old son sit side-by-side … Continue reading
Carried on the Wind
They wait at the crosswalk outside of the Echt Günstig, a pair of twenty-something women in t-shirts and skinny jeans. The woman with the very dark, very curly hair watches … Continue reading
Sisters.
As they come down the isle of the airplane, it can be assessed that they are likely sisters, both about five feet tall, one with black hair the other lighter. … Continue reading
Hoşçakal to Life as You Know It.
You’ve thrown away your chance for a normal life…This is what makes you such an exceptional person. -Orhan Pamuk. Snow.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
The narrow street has two neighboring restaurants. In the first, a woman setting silverware yells at the man behind the register. Her coworker is presumably family. She squeals as he … Continue reading
Making Arrangements for Another Adventure
Now I’m inclined to think it was the inevitable outcome of my years in Europe. Almost all the people who’ve had most effect on me I seem to have met … Continue reading
Already Packed
We carry within ourselves the direction our lives will take. Within ourselves burn the timeless, fateful stars. -Antal Szerb. Journey by Moonlight.
When All The German Fell Out Of My Head
In every tunnel, because the darkness turns the windows into mirrors, people in the train gaze at their own reflection. They pose, pat their hair, examine their own eyes. As … Continue reading
The Nice Thing About Strangers 