28 Letters – Day Six: A Stranger

Dear Random Lady in North Hollywood, CA,

You probably don’t remember me, but I remember you. We had a very brief encounter about 3 or 4 years ago. It was December, and I was sitting on the steps outside of my apartment building on Beck Avenue. It was late, and it was cold. I was sitting there smoking a cigarette. You didn’t know me, but if you did you would know I only smoked when I was really stressed out. I was stressed that night because at the time I worked for a man who I am pretty sure the writers of Entourage used as a model for Ari Gold. A girl can only be called a cunt so many times a day without needing a cigarette or two in order to face another day with him.

So there I was, sitting in my flannel pj bottoms with a hat, gloves, scarf, 2 pairs of socks and my Uggs, smoking a cigarette at 11PM. You were walking by on the sidewalk. You were all dressed up, in cute knee length boots and a long coat, very put together. Maybe coming from a Christmas party I remember thinking as I watched you approaching (because I was uber paranoid about strangers approaching me in the dark late at night, as you should be too.)

You stopped in front of me and said, "Oh honey, no! Don’t do that it’s so bad for you!"

I immediately looked down at the lit cigarrette in my hand and was waivering between a) telling you it was none of your business how I chose to treat my body, and b) turning into a little girl who was caught doing something I knew was bad and rushing to explain to you I was only a part-time smoker when you continued with your thought:

"… sitting on the cold concrete like that in those flimsy pants?! You’ll get hemorrhoids! Stand up sweetie, or at least sit on a blanket in this cold!"

And then you continued on your way down the sidewalk, leaving me utterly amazed.

I have never forgotten you. I loved living in Los Angeles, and you are one of the reasons. I live in Florida now so there is rarely cold concrete for me to sit on, but you better believe if I am ever in a situation where I had to choose between hemorriods or lung cancer, I would think of you and smile because I’m pretty sure I know what you would choose.

Love,

Becca

(Real entry <—– for my friends)