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There are things we say when we catch the eye of a stranger or a neighbor walking by.
當我們看到一個陌生人或者一個鄰居走過的時候，我們會寒暄幾句。
We say, "Hello, how are you? It's a beautiful day. How do you feel?"
我們會說：“你好。最近怎么樣？今天天氣很好。你感覺怎么樣？”
These sound kind of meaningless, right? And, in some ways, they are.
這些聽起來并沒有什么意義對吧？在一定程度上來說就是這樣的。
They have no semantic meaning. It doesn't matter how you are or what the day is like.
它們沒有任何語義學上的意義。與你今天的感覺或者天氣狀況并沒有什么直接關系。
They have something else. They have social meaning.
它們帶有其他意義。它們擁有的是社交意義。
What we mean when we say those things is: I see you there.
我們說那些話的時候傳遞的意思是：我看到你了。
I'm obsessed with talking to strangers.
我熱衷于與陌生人交談，
I make eye contact, say hello, I offer help, I listen. I get all kinds of stories.
我和他們進行眼神交流，語言交流，我提供幫助，傾聽他們。我從他們那里得到了各種各樣的故事。
About seven years ago, I started documenting my experiences to try to figure out why.
大約七年前，我開始記錄我的經歷，希望借此找出這種喜好的原因。
What I found was that something really beautiful was going on. This is almost poetic.
我從中發現了一些很美好的東西，幾乎稱得上是頗具詩意。
These were really profound experiences. They were unexpected pleasures.
這些都是含義深刻的經歷。是意想不到的的喜悅。
They were genuine emotional connections. They were liberating moments.
是真誠的情感聯系。是釋放自我的瞬間。
So one day, I was standing on a corner waiting for the light to change, which, I'm a New Yorker,
比如有一天，我站在街口等綠燈，我是一個紐約客，
so that means I was actually standing in the street on the storm drain, as if that could get me across faster.
所以那意味著我實際上是站在馬路邊的雨篦子上，就好像我因此能夠快一些過馬路一樣。
And there's an old man standing next to me.
我身邊站了一個老年人，
So he's wearing, like, a long overcoat and sort of an old-man hat, and he looked like somebody from a movie.
他穿著一件長大衣，戴著一頂老年帽，看起來就像是從電影里走出來的。
And he says to me, "Don't stand there. You might disappear."
他對我說，“不要站在那里，你可能會消失的。”
So this is absurd, right? But I did what he said. I stepped back onto the sidewalk.
這聽起來很荒謬，是吧？但是我照他說的做了。向后退了一步回到人行道上。
And he smiled, and he said, "Good. You never know. I might have turned around, and zoop, you're gone."
他對我微笑了一下，然后說：“很好，誰知道呢，可能我轉個身，然后嗖的一下你就消失了。”
This was weird, and also really wonderful.
這聽起來怪怪的，但卻讓我感覺特別好。
He was so warm, and he was so happy that he'd saved me. We had this little bond.
他是那么熱情，并且因為“挽救”了我而感覺那么開心。我們建立起了小小的聯系。
