brewing thoughts

“don’t talk to strangers.” that’s one of the first things that our parents taught us when we were young. and now, it’s my turn to tell that to my nephews and nieces whenever i see them.

when i was young, my parents never failed to tell me this - “don’t talk to strangers.” as i look back now, there were several times that i didn’t follow what they said. being a child, trusting the adults was very easy for me. and since i was raised in an environment where i could trust the adults around me, i didn’t realize the danger of talking to any stranger. i had some bad experiences talking with them, but fortunately, nothing bad happened to me.

now that i’m already an adult, i thought that i wouldn’t have any problems talking with strangers. hey, i’m already old right? i could take care of myself. but then again, could i? i had some experiences with strangers before. some were good, some were bad. being in a foreign land, talking with strangers is natural for me. i mean, if i meet a fellow foreigner, most of the time, we exchange names and even phone numbers. i could do that here in japan, but i’d definitely not try that in my own country. i know, it’s really wrong. maybe i’m just too friendly and too nice. maybe i’m just too trusting. and probably i’m too naive.

am i making any sense? i hope so. and my resolution? don’t be too naive and too trusting, especially with people i just met. and don’t talk to strangers.