beautiful day, friendly strangers.

okay, so i know this is rare - me, posting two times in a day - but i had to. i chose to work at home today because i can see in the near future that many hours will be spent in stauffer. i decided preventative measures would be best to avoid stauffer overload. so 1pm rolls around and i figure it's a great day out, so i'm gonna go take a walk to tim's to get myself a nice hot beverage (half coffee, half hot chocolate with one serving of cream - fabulous!) i ran into a friend at tim's, and chatted it up for a bit, then got my stuff and began the walk home. on the way, i thought i'd stop in the wolfe island bakery for a savoury treat. i purchased a sausage roll, and proceeded on my way home. but i was stopped in the parking lot of the bakery by a man who was with another elderly gentleman:

parking lot man: excuse me, do you mind if i ask where you are from? where does your family originate? from the west indies?
me: 'yes, we're from the west indies'
PL man: which country?
me: guess!
PL man: trinidad?
me: ding ding ding! <-- (i actually said that.)
PL man: i knew it! i LOVE trinidad!! i have some really good friends who are from there and living there now. we've been friends for over 30 years - i go down to carnival every year! it's great!
me: really? that's awesome! yea, trinidad is an awesome place
elderly man: *smiles* he talks about it all the time
PL man: - continues to rave about trinidad -

the conversation continues like this for a few minutes, then he says:

PL man: oh man, and the KFC down there is AMAZING! the stuff up here is crap in comparison
me: yeah, definitely!!! *wheels in my head turning* wait...i've met you before

- flashback to september -

jasmine and i are sitting in copper penny enjoying lunch, and i'm telling her about my trip to trinidad and barbados in august. i'm telling her about how good KFC is down there *man walks by table, turns and looks at us* 'i'm sorry, but i can't help overhearing, you're talking about trinidad - i love that place! the KFC down there is AMAZING!' i turn to jas and am like "SEE!! it really is good!" then the guy stands there and continues to chat with us for a little bit before heading out.

- back to today -

me: [recounting above incident to the PL man]
PL man: oh YES! hahahaha
me: *chuckle*
elderly gentleman: would you care to join us?
me: [holding my tim's cup of mocha goodness and my sausage roll] aw thanks for the offer, but i've actually gotta go write a paper
PL man: well, it was nice chatting with you. trinidad is great, i love it, i love the people there..!
me: i'm sure i'll see you around again sometime!
PL man: have a good day, bye!
elderly man: bye!
me: later!

PL man was so friendly, as was his elderly counterpart, who i believe is named al. he genuinely loves trinidad - the people, the music, the food, the place. i love when things like this happen! so random, but awesome. i love it because it shows that people are friendly and willing to chat, even if they are complete strangers. there's hope for us yet :)