The Old Coot has ‘street people’ friends

By Merlin Lessler — 

I have “street people” friends. I don’t know the names of most of them. You pass each other a few times, nod hello, and progress to “Good morning, nice day, isn’t it.”

You don’t need to know each other’s names, their bios, or anything else. You walk and are happy to see they are still around. It’s a “hello and a comment,” type of encounter where you respect each other’s privacy beyond that. 

These “street people” friends pop up all over the place. The contact is life-enriching. I have them in our village in New York, where I reside much of the time; in our neighborhood in Florida; on the beach; in coffee shops; and in other places where repeated encounters take place. 

One thing I noticed early on in the “street people” friendship world was that young people don’t readily engage in this exchange for the most part. They walk past as though you are invisible if you are a senior or a really old coot like me.

It won’t change unless you force the issue, which my friend Scotty in Florida is a master at. He says he’s not satisfied until he reaches 50 greeting exchanges a day – “Hi” or “Good Morning” or whatever greeting is appropriate when he’s out walking, biking, jogging, or at the beach surfing.

It’s so easy; just do it, and you can break the barrier between the young people’s world and the old coot world. 

It’s kind of amazing how many people you run into on a regular basis “on the street.” Move to a new town or neighborhood and walk or circulate on a semi-regular basis (coffee shops for me) and soon enough you won’t feel like a stranger. Just say, “Hi! How are you doing today?” and move on. You’ll never live in isolation again. You’ll have “street people” friends.

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