Hey Stranger! Come On In!

           Photo Credit:  Puplove 

            I recently read a very interesting essay from a lady by the name of Arianna Davolos in the book Share or Die. She came up with the interesting idea of hosting "stranger dinners" as a way of being able to communicate with people who she would otherwise pass by on the street without a second thought. She also brings up a few more interesting thoughts and ideas throughout her writing that I would like to talk about.

             To give you an idea of why, what, or how Arianna came up with the idea of "stranger dinners", I need to first talk about some of the interesting things she brought up. Arianna, like many people, came out of college ready to face the world head on and be able to focus on what she loved, which is art, and also be able to expand her knowledge about art. To her surprise, whenever she got out of college and into the real world she found out that living consisted of 3 things: work, pay rent, and have fun when you can. So she started becoming curious about how other people lived their lives, how they manage their time, and also what they sacrificed or invested themselves in. She felt as though she didn't belong in the world that she lived in, and felt that everyone, besides herself, were as happy as could be. She wanted to know the answer to how she should live her life. "Slowly it dawned on me: no one has the answer. There is no right path. Everyone stumbles their way through. Some people get lucky breaks; some people have lower expectations; some people are unhappy; some people are happy" (Harris, Gorenflo 107). In my opinion, she hit the nail right on the head, because I have personally learned that no one in this life is going to do the same things that you are destined to do. Everyone's plan is different and unique to them as a person. When I was a kid, I used to always pretend that I was Bill Dance. I would go out fishing and act like I was an old man from Tennessee who knew everything there was about fishing. Hit the fast forward button to the present day Kenneth, and now instead of being a famous fisherman, I'm on my way to becoming a Hotel or Restaurant Manager! It just shows that everyone lives their own unique life.

Photo Credit: Rounds.com

                

                   Another great point that Arianna brought up was the unfortunate reality that today, we as a people have more cyber relationships than physical relationships. This part of her writing hit me pretty hard, because shes right! As I was reading, I kept thinking of everyone's status on Facebook that I had liked the day before. Out of the twenty plus people's statuses I liked, only 5 of the statuses were by people who I talk to on a regular basis. She also brought up the notion that anyone who is a friend of yours can go on your Facebook page and look at all your past statuses, pictures, and videos that you put on you profile. Once again, she made an excellent point that I had never thought about before.

               All this leads into why Arianna hosts these "stranger dinners". It is so that she can get back to how everyone used to behave before all of these distractions, specifically the internet. To get the strangers to come to the dinner she gets her friends to invite one person they know, and Arianna emails all the people going the time and date. They would all get together to talk, socialize, eat, and go from strangers to acquaintance’s. I think this is a really cool way to meet people. It would be especially hard for someone like me because of how shy I am, but it would be an experience to say the least! 

               All in all I think that Arianna Davolos has really good ideas and views on things. I hope you enjoyed reading my Blog! God Bless!