Not-So-Strangers

Strangers.

It's funny how someone can be a complete stranger one day and then within such a short amount of time, they can become so much more. I find people fascinating. Every stranger I see on the street, I want to know their name, their story, anything that will make them less stranger and more human.

I work in production and while I usually know at least one person on a show I'm working on, there are always strangers...new people, new faces, new smiles.

I just wrapped up on a show in LA that shot for about two months. I was a production assistant and the job entailed a lot of driving around LA, grocery shopping, restocking crafty...if you've ever worked in production you know the drill.

That being said, what I am always surprised by is how attached I get to the group of people I work with for the duration of the show. During my first week of work on this gig, there were so many strangers that would walk through the doors leading to crafty. I would greet them with a smile and a "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon." We would introduce ourselves and within days, these unfamiliar faces all of the sudden became the smiles of people I looked forward to seeing everyday. I got to learn their names and their stories. I found out their passions, their pets names, their milk to cereal ratio, their wife's favorite cookies, the way they took their coffee, and just how much talent they encompassed.

I ran up and down a lot of stairs. I drove a lot of miles. I greek-ed a lot of water bottles and I bought a lot of groceries.

I also shared a lot of laughs. I saw a lot of smiles. I heard a lot of dreams and I met a lot of incredible people.

There were some days that were a lot. I had days where it was hard to get out of bed at 5 o'clock in the morning or I got tired at 1 o'clock in the afternoon from driving around all day. However, I did my best to hide all that and to be quite honest, it became really easy. It was easy to focus on the good because I was constantly being greeted with smiling faces. It was hard to complain about how hard it was because there was so many happy people around. Now that's not to say I didn't complain. That's not to say I didn't encounter people who were stressed. That's not to say I didn't get stressed or reach a point where I just wanted to sleep. Because trust me, I did.

But I did my best to focus on what I loved about the job and I made a strenuous effort to not complain. I was lucky though because anytime I saw the view, well damn...all bets were off because the view was breathtaking.

The view overlooked the city and every time I looked out across all the houses and cars driving by, all I could think about were all the strangers. Thousands of people with names, stories, fears, and dreams. People that right now are strangers but within minutes of an encounter, could become a familiar face with a name I would come to recognize and a smile that would make my day.

I am so beyond grateful for my experience on this production because more than anything, it brought new, amazing, talented, beautiful people into my life. I can't imagine myself working in any other industry and I hope that the next crew I get to be a part of, is as amazing as the one that was on this production. To anyone and everyone I met, thank you for being you. Thank you for teaching me more than you may even realize. Thank you for making me love what I do and for making work feel a lot less like work.