2020 Made Me Miss Strangers

“These are my sexy pants,” she said in a thick Russian accent. “They help me to get laid.”

My now-wife and I heard this coming out of a restaurant in DuPont Circle years ago and we haven’t stopped talking about it. Were those really her sexy pants? Was she being sarcastic? Was she actually trying to get laid at 2pm on a Sunday?

I’ve thought about that moment a lot since March because it turns out I now miss strangers. And it’s the strangest thing.

You see, in the before times, I wasn’t a fan of strangers. Even though I live in a big city, the other people only seemed to get in my way. I just wanted to be around my friends and family.

In 2020, that dynamic changed. Due to COVID and our new abnormal, I only interacted with people I knew – my friends, my family, and my co-workers. I know that when we eventually get through this hell, they’ll all be waiting for me. I missed seeing them in person, but I didn’t miss them, per se. I talked with them as much, if not more, than I ever have before. We kept our social circles smaller in 2020, and we kept them closer.

No, it turns out one of things I missed most about daily life in 2020 are strangers. And it’s the strangest thing because I never thought about them before. Being without them for nine months and counting made me realized how much strangers have impacted my life.

I could rattle off the small moments, when a stranger helped you with a nickel while in line or warned you about an oncoming car running through a red light. For me, it was those little moments that come from strangers that make life’s little moments even better.

I think back to a July 4th baseball game that my now-wife and I attended several years when Bryce Harper was still on the Nationals. When he came up to bat in the middle of the game, his walk-up song was “The Best is Yet to Come” and the couple behind us couldn’t believe it. “He’s got a lot of nerve,” said the out-of-town man. “He must think he’s really good,” said his wife.

Then Bryce Harper hit a baseball approximately 500 feet out of the stadium, one of his patented moonshots that felt like they would land on another planet.

“Wow, he really showed us!” said the man behind us, and we haven’t stopped laughing since.

I miss strangers whenever I run an errand in D.C. these days. There’s a Dunkin Donuts by the Capital One Arena within walking distance that I frequent frequently. In the before times, I would also dread seeing people in line because it would cost me time.

Since March, I’ve haven’t been behind more than one person to get our coffee. It’s now depressing. I’m tired of standing in empty stores and walking on deserted sidewalks. I miss people.

This has been the strangest year for so many reasons yet even I can’t comprehend that I now miss strangers. How quickly will that change when life returns to normal? I don’t know, and I can’t wait to find out. 

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