Intimate Strangers

Did that title draw you in? Did you think you’d be reading some hot, steamy porn? Nah! That’s my other blog that I write under the pseudonym, Buck Naked. Seinfeld reference!!

So who are these intimate strangers I am talking about? My barber, my family doctor, and my dentist and her office manager. Now that I wrote that, it sounds like it could still go into porn territory. I’d better explain.

I have a client that I have been seeing for 12 years. I first saw him as a nine year old boy, with a hoody, who wouldn’t even show his face. Today he is a year away from being an archaeologist. I helped him find his voice and open himself up to the world. Together we went through a rough middle school experience and a worse early high school experience. I thought about how long I have been in his life. That made me think of some people, not family and not friends, who have been a part of my life.

I’ve had the same barber for almost thirty years. When I first saw him, I only had a receding hairline. Now that hairline has receded to the back of my head. He’s fast, he’s cheap, and quite frankly I’m not much of a challenge. #2 clipper all over with taper on the side. But we talk about current events and vacations and work. I know a little about his family and he knows a little about mine. We are sort of intimate strangers.

I’ve had the same family doctor for at least twenty five years. He’s seen me through two cancers, many ear infections, and lots of colds. I know his wife is a doctor in the same practice and I have seen his kids grow by watching the ever changing pictures on his exam room walls. He’s currently cheering me on as my non-throwing up streak is about to hit 18 years! Another Seinfeld reference!

Then there is my dentist and her office manager. They have been taking care of me for thirty years. You don’t usually think of a dentist office as a fun place, and neither do I. But these two are wonderful. We share our thoughts on the state of the world, the latest entertainment buzz, and even office gossip. Whatever happened to the new assistant who worked two days and never returned, leaving her personal items behind? There was a long streak where I was there almost every week. They had a plaque made, Dennis’s Chair, and put it on the window sill by Chair #2, my chair!

So these are my intimate strangers. I’m not sure how I will survive if any of them retire. It’ll certainly be a loss in my life. Who are the intimate strangers in your life?

So, now it’s time to write my other blog. You know Buck Naked’s blog. It’s already started. The title is “Sally Does Slatington” or something like that. Just kidding! Keeping it clean here in Schnecksville!