Oh The People You'll Meet

I know this preacher who is always telling stories about all the people he meets.  He has the most interesting conversations with them, and I used to get quite jealous of his fascinating on-the-spot acquaintances.  Until yesterday when I found myself in Wal-Mart talking to a complete stranger about potatoes.  That's when I realized that I too am a people collector.  Not in the creepy way - in the "I have many fond memories of times well spent with complete strangers" type way.  Here is a short compilation of some of my strangers so far.

1. The guy in Wal-Mart.  Middle-aged, beer-bellied.  Informed me that he had never "done this" before.  I thought "talked to a young woman you don't know?", but it turned out he meant checked out at a grocery store.  He had never checked out at a grocery store before.  It blew my mind.  But it kinda made sense.  He is a man after all.
2. That woman who borrowed my bathroom.  This is probably gonna freak some of you out, but I let a complete stranger use my bathroom the other day.  I was sitting on my front steps when suddenly a young woman dashed up, covered in sweat, gasping for air, and begged to please use my bathroom it was an emergency.  Apparently she ran cross-country for the college, and was miles from the nearest public restroom.  Of course I obliged her.  I can definitely empathize with being caught out on the road.  
3. The convict.  Ok, so he wasn't a complete stranger; I'd met him before, when I worked at a home for troubled youth.  Months after I left that job, I met this guy in the thrift shop.  Apparently he was out of jail on parole and was between construction jobs making $35 an hour.  I wasn't sure if I should happy that he was getting along so well, or disturbed that he was out of jail on parole.  Don't know what he did to get into jail since I had last seen him, but in retrospect of his most interesting behavior patterns at the youth home, the idea made me nervous.         
4. That weird guy who is always walking other people's dogs.  So there is this guy in my neighborhood, who I am pretty sure is bat-crap crazy.  Sweet as a bug, but just a bit touched.  He has a dog-walking service, and every time I see him he has about 15 dogs wrapping their leashes around his legs.  I can't really pin-point what it is about him that makes him seem - odd.  I think it may be that he talks to himself (out loud), or that he looks like a hobo, or - no - I think it's just the way he smiles.  He has one of those bat-crap crazy smiles.  Like the Irish guy from Braveheart.  Once I was walking my dog and he came up and starting asking my dog (Biscuit) what his name was.  Of course I didn't answer; he wasn't talking to me.  Ok, maybe I'm the insane one; it took me about half a minute to remember that dogs don't talk.  By that point he was looking at me like I was crazy.  
5. All the random people I meet at the laundromat.  There isn't even room to describe them all.  Every time I go there, I'm talking to some new redneck or gangsta or hippie.  Since I do my laundry on Saturdays, usually the conversation starts, "You watchin' the game today?"  Then it descends into an analysis of rap music, or the woes of being a high school drop out, or advice on living fully.  That is one cool laundromat.  

At the beginning of the semester I made a resolution to meet one new person every week.  So I want to know: does talking to strangers count?