All Over the Map

  STRANGERS MATTER  If there’s one truth I’m carrying over from 2023 to 2024, it’s this: strangers matter.  How we are in the lives of strangers can have far reaching ripples on any given day. We literally have the power to make a bad day worse or better for a total stranger in a few seconds.  I know, it sounds corny, but it’s true.  I’m thinking of three events I experienced in the past few months. The first was at Trader Joe’s in Escondido.  Usually I love shopping at that store, but I was tired and a bit down.  My husband and I had just heard that our homeowners insurance was being cancelled because of fire risk.  The Santa Ana winds had been relentless for weeks and my allergies were acting up, causing a long bout of coughing and asthma and a recent trip to urgent care.  Everything about the shopping trip was overwhelming.  Finding a parking spot. Walking from my car to the store without getting run over.  Discovering (again) that I’d mistakenly put my groceries in someone else’s c