Earlier this week, as I was on a bus that was taking us from the airport departure area to our airplane, I happened upon this older man who was in front of me (I was standing in the aisle and he was seated behind the driver’s seat), and I began a conversation with him.
Why?
Because he had the exact same edition of Sherlock Holmes: The Completed Novels and Stories, as I.
Now in my experience, it’s not often that I find someone who happens to be reading a book that I’m currently reading or have just read, let alone meeting a complete stranger such as that at a random place. In fact, I wondered to myself if I should even strike a conversation with him, and would it seem weird. I wonder if in other countries, such things are a common occurrence.
Eventually, as I mentioned earlier, I actually started a conversation with him, starting with something along the lines of “Excuse me, I don’t mean to be weird (not sure if I used this word), but I just wanted to say that I’m reading the exact same book as you. Same cover and everything.” He said something about the book being a good read since it’s small and pocketable (despite it being quite thick!) and easy to carry around when traveling.
Somewhere along the lines, I also had to admit to him that I actually had to pause my reading that book, just because it was a little heavy on details and such, and go with something lighter. I even admitted to him that I was currently reading The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory.
After a few discussions back and forth, and a little awkwardness on my part, our conversation drifted off and we just ended up quiet for the rest of the bus trip.
Still, I can’t help but think to myself that if a situation such as this ever occurred in the future – one where I meet someone on the bus with a book I’m interested in, or have some relation to – would the me of that time strike up a conversation with that random someone. In a world where lots of people read, but where a smaller percentage of that can actually claim to like reading books, how do we approach strangers who in some way share our interests and simply happen to be where we are?
On another note, I do the same for shoes and clothes. Except I would probably never point out to a stranger that we were wearing the same article of clothing, BUT I would (and I have actually) asked someone about their pair of shoes (boots) which I liked. I had the audacity to ask her where she bought it so I could get myself a similar pair.