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A Stranger Confessed To Me

Some pain is too abrupt, too devastating to wait to share. It has to come out, even to a stranger.

Human Nature - Laura G Owens - Writer
ILLUMINATION
5 min readJan 2, 2025

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On Christmas Eve my prescheduled Uber never showed up, then charged a $30 fee because I canceled.

When my family and I got to the restaurant it was a mob scene. Overbooked, no place to wait without being in bustling servers’ way. Our reservations at 7pm were pushed to almost 8.

Minor first world annoyances. But I was pissed. Finally the host came over and told us our table was ready.

As I sat down he whispered something like “It’s been a hard night.”

I said, “Yeah I bet, it’s CRAZY busy!”

He said “No, I mean my marriage, it’s on the rocks. I just found out over the phone it’s over. I don’t know what to do”

I told him awkwardly, “Oh I’m so so sorry. That’s horrible.”

He smiled sadly, turned and went back to work.

My daughter, husband and stepmom were a few steps behind. When I told them what happened my daughter said, “Wow, a little TMI but how sad. Poor guy.”

Normally I would have thought the same, TMI, confession from a stranger I met for less than a minute.

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ILLUMINATION
ILLUMINATION

Published in ILLUMINATION

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Human Nature - Laura G Owens - Writer
Human Nature - Laura G Owens - Writer

Written by Human Nature - Laura G Owens - Writer

Obsessed with human behavior. Social commentary & essays with stark honesty. Sarcasm is my super power. 15 years writing about mind & body natural health.

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