Jay's Sandbox

I'm going to enjoy reading this when I'm 40.

[jaysia-blog]

The Woman in Blue

The fat rain drops hit the shelter as I stand at the bus stop

I am alone on this stormy night and gaze across the street

I see the silhouette of a woman standing in front of the boarded-up china shop

I step into the road to take this chance to meet

Upon closer look I catch a glimpse of her dress, aliceblue

I turn her around and extend my arm

“My name is Jay, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Maya,” she replied with a charismatic charm

Before, I’d never look forward to taking the bus home

But talking to Maya each day brought light to my rainy world

Before meeting her, I felt like I would only roam

Every conversation with her something new would unfurl

Always listening, ready to speak her mind

The perfect mixture of good and bad

I’m dumbfounded by anyone would pass up a girl this kind

Plus, she has the world’s coolest dad

I’m eager to know what will happen between us going at this rate

We’ve managed to get through all storm and strife

However, most moments have been great

Maya Caulfield, you bring balance to my life

It’s been a pleasure. Thank you.

J.T. Bender 06-03-2015

[jaysia-blog]

The Red Fox

As I walked though the hills I came across a grove of burned trees

The delicate black skeletons wound their way to the sky

Ready to come crumbling down with the slightest breeze

No life in here, Mother Nature’s milk has run dry

I had an extra moment so I went inside

My shoes became blackened, nose filled with soot

However, I became happier and shuffled through the ash with pride

Winding past the tall silhouettes as I continued my journey on foot

After too long of only black I saw a speck of aliceblue

Upon closer examination I discovered a crisp brook

I sat down and rinsed my feet, giving the pristine water a touch of gray hue

Behind me I heard a sound and got up to go in for a closer look

It was a beautiful red fox! The only life in here!

Its bright red coat had been blackened by the ash

I crouched down and spoke with words of endear

“Come here little one! I can take you out of society’s trash!”

The red fox turned to me with a blank look in its eyes

It sprinted away from me taking no heed

I chased after it begging for it to comply

However the red fox had escaped me, with greater speed

Today I still wonder why the red fox didn’t come with me

Was I too bold? Am I just unable to cajole?

I still return to the forest, finding nothing but dead trees

I already know the red fox has long departed, but I still hope to see it every stroll

As I walked through the hills I came across a grove of burned trees

I probably shouldn’t sit here in the ash and wallow

But something uncontrollable doesn’t let me flee

I hope that one day I will see the beautiful red fox and this time it will follow

J.T. Bender 06-03-2015

[jaysia-blog]

Gallows Duty

Gallows Duty – Taken from /r/writingprompts

            Gregory turned his car key counterclockwise, cutting the engine of his dilapidated, red sedan which was on its last few miles. This particular car was seldom driven, but his brother, Matthew had taken the nicer car on his road trip.  He walked over to the entrance of his apartment complex and passed by the elevator which had been out of service for as long as he had been living there, more than 8 years. After walking up 4 flights of stairs, Gregory realized that he had forgotten to collect his mail for that day. Upon unlocking his post office box and only expecting the usual parcels: bills, classifieds, and magazine subscriptions, a cold sweat materialized on the back of his neck when he saw the crimson envelope.

            “No, not again…” Gregory thought to himself as he sloppily opened the letter with shaking hands. Sure enough, it was just what he feared.

MANDATORY GALLOWS DUTY!!!

TOMORROW, SEPTEMBER 13, 2014 AT MOSELY PARK!!!

            As he had feared, he had, once again, been summoned for Gallows Duty. This was the seventh time he had been summoned since the advent of the program two years before. The Committee stated that it would be a random process and most of the population would never have to participate due to its projected determent of first degree murders.

            “Utter lies…” Gregory swore under his breath, “Oh well,” Gregory joked, “SEVENTH time’s a charm,” despite that he had been continuously saying this since his second summoning.

            Deep down, Gregory knew why he was continuously chosen. His facial composition was particularly favorable towards the board members of The Committee. He had a pale face with high cheek bones, blue eyes, and light brown hair. To the population, watching him press the big red button which activated The Liberator, a monstrous killing device that shocked 3 gigawatts of electricity through the body of the unfortunate victim was like watching a Hollywood film where action stars like Sylvester Stallone would gallantly slaughter any enemy that stood in his path.

            That evening, while Gregory struggled to down his simple dinner of a frozen TV meal, he glanced over to the calendar and realized that his brother would be returning from his long road trip the next morning. Despite not seeing Matthew in over two months, Gregory still felt defeated.

He struggled with falling asleep that night, the faces of the previous six victims constantly haunting his dreams, their begging looks of mercy burning his brain, leaving only pure guilt in the ashes. Twice, he woke up during the night drenched in sweat.

The next morning, Gregory was disappointed to not be greeted by his brother at breakfast. After a quick breakfast of granola and yogurt, he scribbled a note to his brother:

Gallows duty again… Order something nice for lunch, buy a bottle of expensive scotch, we deserve to celebrate.

            At Mosely Park, the media had already set up for the execution. Countless news stations were lined up by The Liberator, their camera pointing to the iron beast not wanting to waste a single second. The Committee was setting up huge projector screens in front of bleachers that seated tens of thousands of people who witnessed the executions live. Tickets were always hard to come by. A crowd of people was joking in the bleachers making bets regarding whether the victim would be male or female, have red hair or black hair, etcetera. Vendors selling Cokes and popcorn were patrolling the crowds, attempting to earn an extra buck.

            Gregory was greeted by three suited men who seemed too happy for the execution. Like the previous seven times, a makeup crew swarmed him, combing his hair, applying makeup, and dressing him for his big day. He was then instructed to walk down a dark, metal conical tunnel into the control center which looked across to The Liberator over a distance of roughly 100 meters. This all felt dreadfully familiar to him, almost routine-like. After about thirty minutes, the event began.

            The roaring cheer of the crowd was audible despite the sound-proofed walls. The announcer bellowed, “Alright folks, welcome to Gallows Day! Let’s see who our victim is today!” Gregory nervously swallowed and the doors to The Liberator opened. From a distance, the victim was made out to be a white male with pale skin, blue eyes, and light brown hair. Within the control room, a television screen lit up and immediately a tear rolled down Gregory’s cheek as he choked on his own breath.

            Within The Liberator, Matthew, his brother, had the same look that Gregory had seen six times before, wide-eyed like a scared puppy. Gregory’s lower lip trembled as he wiped away the tears that were blocking his vision.

            “Seventh time’s a charm,” Gregory said, as he pressed the big red button.

[jaysia-blog]

Industrialization of Nature

Allusion - an indirect reference (often to a literary work); a hint

Aloof - uninvolved; standing off; keeping one’s distance

Altercation - heated fight, argument, or quarrel

Altruism - selflessness; generosity; devotion to the interests of others

Amass - to pile up; to accumulate

Ambience - atmosphere; mood; feeling

Ambiguous - unclear in meaning; confusing; capable of being interpreted in different ways

Ambivalent - undecided; having opposed feeling simultaneously 

The hot sun warmed my skin as I sat underneath the lone tree that rested atop of the grassy hill. Ah! This ambience is so relaxing! It's too bad that this nature might be bulldozed in two weeks, the city was still ambivalent on it's decision. 

Looking across the highway to the construction zone I noticed a pile of soil being amassed. It seems to me that this is an ambiguous allusion representing how one can never avoid industrialization.

I wish I was not so aloof in our government. I want to get into an altercation with the government to preserve this hill I'm sitting on. I wish every person had large amounts of altruism. 

[jaysia-blog]

Did Not See That Coming

Affront - insult; a deliberate act of disrespect 

Aftermath - consequence; events following some occurrence or calamity 

Agenda - program; the things to be done 

Aggrandize - to exaggerate; to cause to appear greater; to increase (something) in power, reputation, wealth, etc. 

Aggregate - sum total; a collection of separate things mixed together 

Aggrieve - to mistreat; to do grievous injury to; to distress 

Aghast - terrified; shocked 

Agnostic - one who believes that the existence of a god can neither proven nor disproven 

Agrarian - relating to land; relating to the management or farming of land 

Alacrity - cheerful eagerness or readiness to respond 

Alchemy - a seemingly magical process of transformation 

Alienate - to estrange; to cause to feel unwelcome or unloved; to make hostile 

Allege - to assert without proof 

Allegiance - loyalty 

Allegory - a story in which the characters are symbols with moral or spiritual meanings 

Alleviate - to relieve, usually temporarily or incompletely

Allocate - to distribute; to assign; to allot 

Allot - to apportion, allocate, or assign

Alloy - a combination of two or more things, usually metals 

"Mr. Bender, please be seated. Your affronts will not be tolerated. Now class, let's get back to the agenda..." said Mr. Thompson as he began to write more equations on the board.

"Sir, with all due respect you can't allege theories without proof. You're trying to make alloys between two completely unrelated fields."

"Jay, have you heard of the allegory of the outspoken student against his teacher while his peers swore allegiance?" replied Mr. Thompson.

Not understanding his point, I cluelessly replied, "No....."

"Exactly, for aggrieving his teacher, he was allocated to the hallway. Now, please alienate yourself from the learning environment," with a bitter alacrity in his voice.

Once the door closed behind me, I was aghast. Never in my school career had I ever been kicked out of class! I don't think the aftermath of this is going to go well with my parents, I thought to myself. Shit, Mr. Thompson is probably going to aggrandize this whole ordeal to the administration team, I better go make this right.

Once I made my way to the administration offices, after waiting for about ten minutes I finally was called into the principal's office to discuss what happened.

"Sir, Mr. Thompson was making offensive conclusions regarding agnostics who participate in agrarian activities while doing alchemy."

"Yes, yes I believe you," replied the principal as he typed on his computer, "I just pulled up your file and your aggregate of offenses towards this school is practically nonexistent. As a matter of fact, this is not the first complaint Mr. Thompson has had. Look, we're probably going to alleviate him from this school and allot him somewhere else. Thank you, you may leave."

Walking out of the principal's office, I did not expect that when I walked inside I would get one of my teachers fired. Boy, did revenge feel sweet.

[jaysia-blog]

The Interrogation

Adulterate - to contaminate; to make impure 

Advent - arrival; coming; beginning 

Adventitious - accidental; connected to but nonetheless related; irrelevant 

Adverse - unfavorable; agnostic 

Advocate - a person who argues in favor of a position 

Aesthetic - having to do with artistic beauty 

Affable - easy to talk to; friendly 

Affectation - unnatural or artificial behavior, usually intended to impress 

Affidavit - a sworn written statement made before an official 

Affiliate - to become closely associated with 

Affinity - sympathy; attraction; kinship; similarity

Affliction - misery; illness; great suffering; a source of misery, illness, or great suffering 

Affluent - rich; prosperous 

Afford - to give; to supply; to confer upon

The cold, metal, handcuffs dug into my wrists as I clenched my fists that were bound to the shiny, metal table that lonesomely resided inside the interrogation room. I don't see the point of having a metal table, it's so uncomfortable, I mean it's probably just for aesthetic purposes  From where I am seated, I am blinded by the fluorescent light that shines directly into my eyes, causing me to avert my eye contact. I don't see how they can expect to get answers from me under such adverse conditions.

I've been waiting in here for a while; too long. The advent of my interrogators seems behind schedule, I thought. Just then, a stocky man entered the room and shined a bright flashlight into my eyes to adding to the already painful light that was initially there.

"Is that really necessary?" I complained.

"Shut up!" barked the man, "This can be really easy if you tell us what we want!"

"Calm down," I said trying to be as affable as possible, "This will go much faster if we respect one another."

"Fine," replied the man sternly, "I need you to sign this," he said as he pulled out a clip board with an official document on it: an affidavit  basically putting me under oath to tell the truth.

"Alright," I replied as I struggled to sign the sheet of paper with my handcuffed hand.

"Okay, first question, what was your motive to the murder of Mr. Banks? Was it because he was an affluent individual?"

"I didn't! This is supposed to be an interrogation, not an accusation! My presence in the area was adventitious to his murder," I said struggling to stay calm.

"Well, then why were you carrying Warfarin? It was the same poison used to adulterate his wine?"

"The new apartment I moved into has a rodent affliction," I said advocating for myself, "As a matter of fact, I've never even been affiliated with Mr. Banks!"  

"Look, boy, there's no need for you to make your story into an affectation, we know that your guilty so you might as well stop hiding the information," said the interrogator.

"Well then, it looks like I'm gonna have to get out of here myself," I said.

"What the hell are you talking abou-" the interrogator was cut off as I flipped the table over and charged at him, pinning him against the wall. Within a minute, he was passed out on the floor from asphyxiation. I reached over to his key belt and unbound myself. I stole his clothes and walked out of the building, unseen. Usually, I don't have an affinity to harm others, but under these circumstances I could not afford to get caught.

Upon walking out of the building, I went to a payphone and called my boss.

"Hey, I'm out. The interrogation did not go as expected, but I'm fine for the most part. You are now free to transfer Mr. Banks' money to my account.

[jaysia-blog]

The Show

Adamant - stubborn; unyielding; completely inflexible 

Address - to speak to; to direct one's attention to

Adduce - to bring forward as an example or as proof; to cite 

Adherent - follower; supporter; believer

Adjourn - to suspend until another time 

Adjunct - something added to or connected with something else; an assistant 

Ad-lib - to improvise; to speak or act spontaneously

Admonish - to scorn gently; to warn 

Adroit - skillful; dexterous; clever; shrewd; socially at ease 

Adulation - wild or excessive admiration; flattery 

I stood behind the drawn curtain, just off the stage frantically reciting my lines inside my head. The show was about to begin! I can't believe I actually agreed to this. Last fall, my friend Sarah had been adamant about me adjourning my participation in the spring play for yet another year.

"Marie! It'll be a great experience!" said Sarah as she waved the flyer advertising the play in my hands, "The Music Man is an amazing work of art! Plus this play will be an adjunct to your music theory class!"

"Sarah, I appreciate your adulation towards my nonexistent acting abilities, but compared to everyone else who is trying out who are very adroit actors, I think I'd get cut right away," I said, admonishing Sarah.

Honestly, I don't remember how the rest of the conversation went, but Sarah adduced so many reasons why trying out for the play was worth it and somehow five months later, I'm standing on the stage about to be in the opening scene.

The loudspeaker blared, addressing the audience,"Ladies and gentlemen, prepared to be blown away by the Lycan Ridge High School thespians in their interpretation of The Music Man!"

The orchestra pit began to play the music that I had heard so many times from the long, laborious rehearsals.

When I got out in front of the audience, my mind completely drew a blank.

"Well," I thought to myself, "Looks like I'm going to have to ad-lib this one."

[jaysia-blog]

Never Trust a Grave Digger

Access - the right or ability to approach, enter, or use 

Acclaim - praise publicly and enthusiastically 

Accolade - an award; an honor 

Accord - to agree; to be in harmony 

Accost - to approach and speak to someone aggressively 

Accouterments - personal clothing; accessories; or equipment 

Accrue - to accumulate over time 

Acerbic - sour; severe 

Acquisitive - seeking or tending to acquire; greed 

Acquit - to find not guilty 

Acrid - harshly pungent; bitter

Acrimonious - full of spite; bitter; nasty 

Acronym - a word made up of the initials of other words

Acumen - keenness of judgement; mental sharpness 

Acute - sharp; shrewd 

Adage - traditional saying; proverb 

As I sat in the park with a low acumen enjoying this beautiful day, I was taken by surprise when my buddy, Ben came up from behind me.

"Calvin!" he yelled, "I think I've located the treasure!"

"You mean the acclaimed McAnderik treasure?! The one that's supposed to have accounterments studded with diamonds!? Dude, if we find this we are going to receive an accolade if not many!" I replied.

"That's the point, I say if we actually do find the treasure we keep it for ourselves! A wise man once said a famous adage "A penny saved is a penny earned!"

"I don't think that counts if we're being acquisitive!" I replied acrimoniously.

"Dude, okay, I understand. Don't be so acerbic. Why don't we first look to see if it's actually the treasure and not just me being mistaken." said Ben.

After a long walk over the hill and into the nearby ditch, Ben pointed to a small opening in the ground that was only large enough for one of us to fit inside. Around the opening, garbage and other brambles had accrued. 

"I'm too big to fit inside, Calvin, so this one is one you. I don't think it goes too deep. Plus your eyesight is more acute than mine so you'll be able to find anything if it is indeed down there," said Ben.

"Uh, I'm not too sure about this, Ben. I've never seen that opening before, and the soil around it is pretty eroded..."

Ben then accosted me, "Calvin, you better go down that damn hole, if you know what's good for you."

"Fine, fine," I said, acquitting Ben of his sudden aggression, "I suppose me going down that hole and finding the treasure accords with you being the one finding it in the first place. Share the load."

"Yeah, buddy! That's what I'm talking about!" exclaimed Ben.

I approached the hole and sat on the ground, letting my legs dangle down into the dark abyss. I grabbed my phone to use as a flashlight. Being the small figure I am, I still was not able to gain access to the hole however after some twisting around. As I crawled further down the tunnel, the air became more and more acrid until the point where I became winded only after crawling a couple of feet. Finally I reached the end of the tunnel and like Ben suspected there was a box. The treasure! My hands trembled as I unlatched the lock and opened the box, eager to discover what it held inside. Within the box was a single sheet of paper. Bringing my phone closer to the paper I read, in Ben's handwriting:

"Ur SOL (that's an acronym for shit outta luck)"

Immediately after, I felt the soil pressing up against the backs of my feet and the air around me vanish...

[jaysia-blog]

The Test

Abstinent - voluntarily not doing something

Abstract - theoretical; impersonal

Abstruse - difficult to understand

Abysmal - extremely hopeless 

Accede - to give in

Accentuate - to emphasize; accent

The blank score at the top of the paper was accentuated in a bold font out of a possible 50 points. At this point, my efforts of passing calculus were practically abysmal and I’d have to accede to Mr. Johnston’s extra credit opportunity over the summer in order to pass the class. I silently ridiculed myself for being abstinent the entire school year in terms of doing homework and studying for the past exams. After flipping through the pages of the abstruse exam I flipped the test over and began to write on the back blank side.

Why must intellect be measured in your ability to reproduce information? I thought society taught us to be independent speakers.

Such an abstract statement, but at this point it was my only hope.

[jaysia-blog]

"Be Like a Good Asian and Do Your Homework"

Abase - to humiliate, lower self-esteem and dignity 

Abash - to embarrass 

Abate - to subside, reduce 

Abdicate - to step down from a position of power or responsibility 

Aberration - something not typical 

Abet - to support or encourage 

Abeyance - suspicion 

Abhor - to hate 

Abject - hopeless

Abjure - to repudiate, to take back; to refrain from 

Abnegate - to deny oneself things; to renounce. 

Abomination - something despised or abhorred 

Aboriginal - native; dating back to the very beginning 

Abortive - unsuccessful 

Abound - to be very numerous 

Abridge - to shorten or condense 

Abrogate - to set aside; to abolish 

Absolute - unlimited

Absolve - to forgive or free from blame 

"Mr. Bender, your future looks abject if you do not do your nightly reading assignment," said my chemistry teacher Mr. White as he abased me in front of the entire class.

"Look Mr. White, I know that it is an aberration for me to not do my homework except last night my uncle abdicated himself from the chief of police and I wanted to be there to abet him," I replied.

"I have a great abeyance for how true your alibi is, son," replied Mr. White. He then turned to the entire chemistry class and told us, "It is an abomination about how lazy kids are these days! Slackers abound this classroom and I don't like it one bit! All of you guys are abnegating yourselves of an education by not doing your nightly work!" shouted the teacher as he abashed the entire class.

Then, my buddy Stevan chimed in, "Well, perhaps if you abridged the nightly homework and even abrogated it on nights of major sporting events, then we would abjure skipping our nightly assignments."

"Guys, I'm going to absolve you guys this time, but more importantly speaking, you all need to do your homework or else your abilities on tests will be abortive," said Mr. White, abating his tone of voice, "The path to success is aboriginal, those who work hard early on usually end up being the most successful."

With him finishing his last sentence, the bell rang signaling the end of the class.

As I walked out of his class I thought to myself how much I abhorred his condescending life lessons, however if I wanted success, my work ethic would have to become absolute.

[jaysia-blog]

The Value of Writing Stuff Down

So,

This year I have a math teacher who despite it being the year 2014, uses a blackboard. At the beginning of the year back in around September of 2013, I was skeptical about the effectiveness of this archaic method of teaching. I have never been so thankful in my life as this year my abilities in mathematics has improved more than it has in my entire career so far. The reasoning behind this antique teaching method is that if we want to remember what was in the lecture, we are forced to write it down which solidifies it in our long-term memory. Unlike previous years in schooling, I somehow remember things that we learned 6 months ago...

[teratogeniccardboard]

50 Word Story

This is something I think every writer should try. It’s difficult to tell the story that you want in 50 words exactly and in doing so, you challenge yourself with pacing and getting a coherent story out with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Here’s one of mine after the break.

Read More

[jaysia-blog]

The Unseen Sight

As I caught my breath I collapsed into the old, squeaky wooden chair the bell signaling the start of fifth period, band class. Most of the faces that were smiling at me I recognized from freshman year, the year that I intended to quit band class. Reasoning for my return came from the band director, Mr. Holland, who begged me to stay as I am the only motivated keyboardist in the school as well as bullshit such as "potential" and "talent." Anyway, the Mr. Holland came strolling out of his office and after ascending his podium said in a bright voice,

"It's great to see that many of you have returned for another fun-filled year of making music! This will be a blast, everyone!"

"Gawd, kill me now." I thought as I held back the vomit that was forming in the back of my throat.

For the next five minutes, Mr. Holland did the standard first-day-of-school things of going through the syllabus, grading policy, and told us special days to mark on our calendars with competitions and concerts. Just then, the squeaky door that probably had not been oiled in my lifetime creaked open. In stepped a short, scrawny kid, brandishing a long, thin cane. Then it hit me, shorty over here is blind.

"Is this room 517?" asked the blind student.

"Yes, but this is the band room. You must be mistaken." replied Mr. Holland.

"They don't print Braille copies of the schedules, so double check on this," said the blind student as he handed Mr. Holland a crumpled up piece of paper.

When Mr. Holland opened the piece of paper and put on his round, wire-framed spectacles he said, "Sure enough! You're in this class according to your schedule. What's your name?"

"Andrew Gray."

"Yep, you're on my roster as well. What instrument do you play?"

"I play keyboard." The response of the class was filled with a sea of giggles and "Yeah right's."

Now, this was a pleasant surprise. I had only heard of the great blind keyboardists such as Ray Charles in stories, yet this was the real deal. Sticking up for my fellow piano comrade I said,

"Hey, you guys might all be wrong. Here, play something," as I gestured over to the piano.

Andrew then strolled over to the piano and played better than I probably would have ever been able to accomplish in my life because he didn't use his disability as a crutch, but as a stepping stone.

[jaysia-blog]

The Man at the Bus Stop

After a long, grueling day sitting through a three hour Chemistry Lab at the local university, I decided that I deserved to treat myself. In general, like most college students who are under financial aid and a plethora of scholarships, my budget usually consisted of buying the necessities to live, like toilet paper. Actually going out for lunch was a very rare occasion. After climbing four long flights of stairs from the basement of the science building, I needed to catch my breath before going outside.

"Dang, I need to really get back into shape," I thought to myself as I struggled to open the heavy iron door connecting me to the outside world.

When I stepped outside I was blinded by the bright sunlight that scorched my eyes. This morning when I had gone to the university, it was a heavy overcast with a light drizzle. Now, it was clear skies with absolutely no obstructions between the sun and myself. I reached into my pocket, grabbed my secondhand off-brand iPod, cranked up my Pink Floyd and began walking towards the bus stop.

Upon reaching the bus stop, I read the schedule posted underneath the shelter and realized that I had exactly 18 minutes to kill before the next bus into town. I sat down on a bench only to quickly jump back up to realize that after the morning drizzle the bench had not completely dried.

Across the street there was a man who was waiting for the bus as well, obviously. Every so often he would peer his head into the street, examining the traffic. About two minutes later, he looked both ways and then jogged across the street towards me. I tensed up, becoming more alert as there were no pedestrians nearby, only vehicles speeding by on the bustling road. After politely smoking a cigarette far away from me, he walked over and sat down next to me.

"You from China?" he asked in a very stern voice.

"Um, no I was born here but my mother is from there," I stammered.

"Ah yes! I went there on vacation once," the man replied, barely understandable with his heavy accent.

"I notice you have an accent, where are you from?" I asked, now more comfortable after finding that all he wanted was somebody to talk to.

"Nepal, I have been living here for the past four months since my wife and I got Green Cards," the man replied with a smile.

Our bus then arrived and both of us boarded, talking throughout the duration of our journey. My stop was before his so I shook his hand and wished him fair well. A bright smile formed across his face as if he were thankful that somebody was friendly enough to engage him in conversation. While I was hungrily chowing down my "Five Guys" bacon cheeseburger I thought to myself the power of simply talking to a stranger to melt together a friendship.