Most of the time when we think about the people who we regularly hang out with, we tend to notice that they are all very similar in one way or another. It may be that you have similar interests, that you grew up in the same area, or even that you all look incredibly similar.
As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Football players hang out together. People of the same culture hang out together. You don't often see eclectic mixes of people just enjoying a good time together, which is a shame, because we all have so much to learn from each other.
Two groups of people who should definitely be hanging out with each other more are young people and old people. Old people have so much wisdom to offer to young people, and young people can bring life and vitality to the older generations. That's why this story of two strangers enjoying lunch together is especially heart warming.
It's almost Thanksgiving, which means we should be in the spirit and mood of enjoying time with people. This kind of quality time comes with no caveats. It's simply about being around each other and enjoying each other's company. That's exactly what happened after these two strangers met and decided to have lunch together. The two people I'm talking about are Eric Haralson, a 28-year-old black man, and a white 70-year-old woman named Jan. The two of them were eating at McDonalds, which might not be fine dining, but it's a great place to share a table with someone.
They had both came separately to eat breakfast by themselves, but by the end of their meal, they would have both found a new friend. How did two people who couldn't look any different come together like this? Read on to find out.
As Jan and Eric at their breakfasts alone, Jan saw Eric sitting all alone by himself and decided to approach him. WHen approaching a stranger and asking to spend time with them, you never know what response you'll get. You might run into someone who is having a bad day, or just needs some time alone. Luckily that wasn't the case with Eric Haralson. When she asked him if they could eat together, he gladly said yes.
Eric told TODAY FOOD: "My reply was 'of course' because that's just who I am. So she [Jan] grabbed her food, I pushed her chair out for her and introduced myself." The two of them ended up talking with each other for over 45 minutes. Eventually Eric walked Jan to her car and the two of them even exchanged phone numbers to stay in contact.
The only reason we're lucky enough to hear about this great encounter between strangers is because a local teacher named Amanda Craft watched the whole thing go down. She ended up posting about it on social media: "Shout out to this guy! This elderly lady (seemed to be a little lonely) came up to him and asked if she could sit with him My friends and I watched him introduce himself and shake her hand. They talked and laughed together like they were friends. They didn't know each other, and they couldn't be more different. But today they shared a meal together and it touched our hearts."
The post got over 10,000 likes and a ton of comments. People's responses were very positive, saying things like "love & kindness, a winning combination," and "we need more of this in our chaotic times!"
