Imran Mouna

Transcript

don't be a stranger is something we say when we know it might be a while before we're going to see a friend again but i think it could mean so much more you see when we tell someone don't be a stranger what we're really saying is don't turn back into someone i don't know that's really all strangers are aren't they people we don't know enough about so how much is enough well i got a couple friends here tonight i've known for over 10 years and we probably know too much about each other is that what it takes it can't be because i'm competing against some

friends tonight that i've known for less than a year and we're not strangers in fact i got a haircut from a barber two days ago who told me she likes public speaking so i gave her a ticket and i don't think she's a stranger anymore either so what draws the line between strange and stranger and i make that distinction because if i'm being honest i got some pretty strange friends but when did they stop being strangers that's what's hard to tell i was just in beijing and it's super tricky to get a cab there uber and lyft are banned and the alternative they have their

dd is entirely in mandarin which i speak a whole two words of so thankfully the hotel had given me a business card i could show people in case i got lost so they would know where i want to go though actually thinking about it that may have just been some genius marketing because i showed that card to everyone but anyways once i finally managed to get a cab i'd show the driver the card and you know most of the time they'd get me to the hotel or somewhere close enough but this one time i show it to a guy and he barks something at me

that doesn't sound anything like what the other driver said when i showed them the card before i can figure out what's going on he just takes off down the highway so i'm feeling a little nervous i'm hoping that he's figured out where i'm going but i'm looking around and thinking i ain't seen that building before but i figure you know what let this guy do his job worst case i end up in shanghai now after about 10 to 15 minutes of tense awkward silence i think it might be a time to bust out my love of whistling because this can't get worse so i start

whistling one of my favorite songs and then very quietly the driver starts to sink now i don't know if you recognize this song he was just singing his own thing but suddenly we're figuring things out together i'm pointing at buildings i think i recognize he's saying stuff that sounds good traffic clears we're sailing it was great until he stopped at a building that was definitely not my hotel and i'm thinking this could be how it ends this could be it but then he points to what looks to be like a convenience store and after some gesturing i piece together he wants to go buy some

cigarettes and i make like yeah whatever you know i'm not in a rush but as i look down at my phone i realize why he's worried because tucked under the radio is a huge wad of cash probably everything he had made that day so i smile my best i'm not a thief smile and after a few moments he nods and runs into the store and i'm left there thinking we've been in this car less than 30 minutes we don't speak each other's language i don't know where we're going all he knows is i like to whistle but somehow it's enough and then to top it

off when he comes back he lights up and offers me a cigarette now i'm not a smoker but i promise before i know it i'm putting out the butt in my hotel ashtray you see the thing is it's not about how long we've known each other or how much we know about each other it's about whether we're willing to risk making a connection with each other it's about whether we're willing to share something the bonds we form can last a lifetime for a few moments we can share every secret or a single cigarette but if you ask me people stop being strangers as soon as

you do so don't be a stranger thank you for your time you

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.