Stranger than Fiction, or Strangers no More

I made some new best friends this weekend.
First, there was the girl at Cost Plus World Market on Friday. I was able to skip out of the office a little early on Friday to spend time with my mom, my aunt, a lady I call my aunt, and a couple of their good friends for an afternoon of antiquing. But in between the antique stores on Central and in Nob Hill, and those in the North Valley on 4th St. (by the way, you'll get better deals in the NE Heights than you will near Rio Grande), we did a quick stop over at Cost Plus. I needed to pick up some Italian soda for my sister-in-law, and I found some globes for my collection. Anyway, I also saw a great quilt I thought my mom would lurve-- it was pink and orange paisley. It would probably be too loud for my father's taste, but I wanted to show it to Mum anyway. As I led her back to the bedding area, I saw a great quilt on the floor, and soon after, a sweet-looking girl pondering it. My mom wasn't so impressed with the paisley as I was, so she took off to the check-out, but I stuck around for just a bit.
"You really ought to get that," I said to the girl.
"Really, you think so? Why?" she asked.
"Well, because, it's amazing. Are you re-doing a bedroom?"
"Yes, it's all part of giving the house a feng shui makeover," she said. "But I'm also thinking about this one over here." She held up a beautiful teal blanket with a brown damask print.
"Well," I said, "for what it's worth, I still think you ought to get the first one. I'm no expert, but I think you'd really enjoy this one. The pattern is great. The weight is nice, because it's heavy enough to not slip off your bed, but light enough for summer. You can easily put a down comforter under it during the winter. This one with the birds and flowers is the last one, and it's so unique. The other one is beautiful, but it kind of looks like you could get it..."
"At Target," we say together and laugh.
"This one," I went on, "looks a little more Anthropologie."
"That's exactly what I thought!" she exclaimed. "I just needed someone to come over and confirm it. But what color pillowcases do you think I should get?"
And we were instantly friends. I told her in decorating, I tend to subscribe to a "more is more" aesthetic, and she agreed. Her boyfriend/husband looked like a hairier version of my ex-boyfriend. I wish I would have got her name or given her my card. She is me in an alternate universe. I was so pleased to meet her, and to hope I might be that cool.
I also managed to bond with some other folks I didn't know. On Saturday, the ladies and I went to the flea market. There was a guy trying to sell me some genuine "I like Ike" pins along with the naval mechanic shirt I bought. There are those who would argue he was only being nice because he was trying to make a sale. But we got on splendidly.
Another lady rolled down the window of her truck as Deborah and I carried a very heavy French armchair out to Aunt Sylvia's van. The woman looked like Carly Simon, laughed, and told us we ought to be on a commercial for the Flea Market. She was one of us. She was my friend.
You know, perhaps it's not using "common sense" to befriend all these strangers. But that's where the best stories come in. When you're not afraid to talk to random people, your life is enriched. I met Adam, my darling gas station boyfriend, in the Chevron. I thought he was cute, but I liked him because he was listening to reggae. I spoke to a Carny at the fair, who in turn introduced me to Tomek, her Polish co-worker. The next thing I knew, T was teaching Polish swear words to Hunter, and taking our "Homies Forever" picture for free. Jeff was a stranger at the Institute one night I was at choir, but just a couple of weeks later, he was moving large furniture into my new house for me. Louise and I went to a movie the other night, and sat in the parking lot afterwards watching an interesting, drunk couple in a fake-fight fraught with sexual tension. We knew them, somehow. Not because we'd been introduced, but we narrated their struggle and cheered for them from my parked sedan.
I don't know any strangers. There are just some people I've not yet got around to meeting.