STRANGERS:                        


     I only detest that this word was coined the way it was. Whose to say a stranger is really strange? Whose to say that someone familiar to you doesn't have the ability to be stranger (heh, look at how words have multiple meanings) than a stranger? I have come to the conclusion that this term is offensive, a large percentage of the time. A vast majority of strangers are just normal people leading normal lives. And y'see, everything is subjective in its own scope- I can be a perfectly normal human being with no out-of-the-ordinary traits, but if we have not yet familiarized ourselves yet, to you, I am just a stranger. There are admittedly a few big red flags that can determine whether or not the term "stranger" is an apt label; if the person: wears a fanny pack, smells like a rotting corpse, is naked, walks around barefoot, screams at small children, masturbates/pees in public, and/or humps inanimate objects, you have ALL the right to deem them a "stranger."
      And for the record, certain rules that you're told when you're younger are in dire need of revision. I'm sure we've all heard of the completely cliched parental rule of "don't talk to strangers." Honestly, nothing could be more preposterous in application in real life. If we were all undyingly obedient, the whole world would be unable to interact, and we'd be reduced to a species of hermits and closet-dwellers. I would have been a social outcast (or even moreso, I should say). I would never be able to find love in the world because I could never communicate my feelings to a person because they are a stranger to me. Job interviews? Forget 'em. Wouldn't be able to chat up the man behind the desk simply because I've never met him before. A new baby brother, you say? Guess he won't be having an older brother to look up to, because he's a total stranger to me. See what I'm talking about? You would get nowhere in the world if you actually adhered to this omni-flawed rule of thumb. How about we amend that rule to "Don't talk to suspicious men in windowless vans who offer you candy"? Would've saved me some childhood scars. Just kidding...mostly.