Don’t Talk to Strangers

“Don’t talk to strangers.” Mom’s words echo in your head as you stare into the icy eyes glaring at you over the counter. You have tuned out his words by now, but the spit flies from his lips onto your face as his reddens. That old adage rings in your head over and over again as you stare at him; “Don’t talk to strangers.”

Clearly, the man is angry because he believes he has been slighted by the chain that you work for, but the point of the matter is that it isn’t your fault. You wonder how you ended up here, at this dingy workplace, with the flickering lights, and the angry men who spit on you as they scream. You vaguely wonder why your mom’s voice is in your head and are thankful no one can hear it. You resist the urge to wipe the water from your face.

The man is doing all he can to make your blood pressure rise as much as his clearly has. You know, however, that this is not your fault, and is in fact the fault of the chain’s policies. You yourself have faced the blunt end of this stick before, and understand this man’s pain, but are not allowed to articulate it by other company policies.

You are left, soaked to the bone by this man’s anger, ready to give up and throw in the towel. Your work has you exhausted anyway, and now to the point of hearing your mother’s voice in your head. “Don’t talk to strangers.” You’ve decided now that instead of pointing the man to the manager, you’re going to take her advice. You say nothing.

The man stares at you for a long moment after clearly having said his piece. His chest is heaving and he’s moved from red to pink. He takes several deep breaths and soon, turns on his heel and begins walking back toward the front door. You stare at him as he leaves, and see him reach in his pocket for his phone. Your breath hitches as his coat moves aside to realize his concealed carry firearm.

What you ponder for the rest of the day and never find out is that the man had reached a breaking point and was ready to take out the last of his frustrations at his children and wife and job on anyone to provoke him, and had rushed from the house in fear. He had been afraid he would take out his anger on his own children, and so had left the house, ready to take down as many frustrations with him as he could.

What you ponder for the rest of the day and never find out is that the man realizes his need for release and begins to feel better, moving his life from one end to the other reasonably happy. Your silence saved the lives of not only him, but his wife and his children. Your silence leads to more life and words than you could have imagined.