the kindness of strangers

he promised to return; she waited.
Originally uploaded by suttonhoo.

Flickr is like a neighborhood – you’re surrounded by folks, some of whom you know in passing only, and occasionally nod to, maybe say hello. Others you see every day, just briefly, at the dry cleaners or the grocery store, and as they become more familiar you linger a little longer in conversation, reveal a little more about yourself, as they do about themselves.

Yesterday I posted a pic called: "he promised to return; she waited", that captured comments from a couple of my close neighbors – entirely to be expected – I was thinking of them when I posted it, given the things they’ve responded to in the past, and was glad to see they took notice.

After that it didn’t generate a whole lot of comments, but it did generate a lot of “faves” – which is kind of like bookmarking an image for later, so you can come back to it easily and see it again. Most of the faves were from strangers – folks who live in the neighborhood who maybe I’ve only seen on the other side of the street before, if I’ve seen them at all.

That’s usually a good sign that the image wound up in Explore – which is the Top 500 “interesting” photos on Flickr for the day. “Interestingness” is determined by an algorithm that I don’t believe they’ve published anywhere, but I suspect has something to do with the volume of 1) views, 2) comments, 3) faves, and 4) the clout of the folks who view, comment and fave the pic. A quick Scout search uncovered the truth: baby hit 49/500. That’s a good day on Flickr.

And the pic -- called he promised to return; she waited -- generated something else -- something that makes me marvel and adore the crazy jazz scat mash up world that is Flickr – where a bunch of strangers get together and make stuff up and throw it out to the crowd to see if it sticks – it generated a poem from a someone I haven’t met before called *(+..+)*, who slipped this into my inbox without comment:

Emotional baggage







I waited up all night

For you again

And all I got was bags under my eyes

I gate check them, board the plane

And end up at your door

You told me where to go

But I had to find my way here

I stand on your porch like a kid whos missed the bus

And maybe the punch line to lifes joke

Cause Im not laughing

The airport lost my luggage

And Im left naked for you to discover

I said youd wait you told me I was right

Laughing as I sit here alone

Hope you make it before you room-mate get home

I couldnt ex-plane my self if I wanted too

I walk around back

To the sunny side of the house

Hoping to catch a break

And a glimpse of you in it

Sand in my toes and butterflies in my stomach

Fly me back to reality

Its four oclock in the morning

And I missed you again

*(+..+)*