I’ve been thinking a lot about encounters with strangers ever since I went to pick up a prescription at Walmart’s Pharmacy.

I thought I would be in and out in a jiffy. Wrong.

I’ve never seen a line that long at the pharmacy. With this being prime tourist season every place is packed and I guess the pharmacy wait was to be expected.

The line for customer service started at the pharmacy window and wound around the pharmacy area, just like the lines at an amusement park.

There was only one clerk instead of the usual three so it took what seemed like forever for me to get close enough to the counter.

Finally I was fifth in line.

Suddenly mayhem broke out when a very big guy with a booming voice got in a confrontation with an old guy waiting in line. It started when the big guy skipped the line and went straight up to the customer service window after pushing aside the older guy who was next in line at the window.

The old guy very calmly explained that the newcomer had to get in line and wait his turn, pointing out the long line.

“I don’t wait in line,” roared the obnoxious line jumper.

I thought the old guy was remarkably calm as he explained that all of us were waiting a long time in line for our turn.

That’s when the line jumper went on the attack. “Are you hard of hearing,” he roared at the old guy. “I told you I don’t wait in lines.”

He kept up a verbal attack on the old guy who dared to question his rude actions. He was yelling so loud that his face was red and his anger was explosive.

By then, the lone clerk stopped waiting on people and just stood there looking like he was worried about the escalating violence. Clerks aren’t supposed to challenge customers, I guess. Not even those causing a scene.

When the big mouth demanded the clerk wait on him, that’s exactly what he did.

Meanwhile, to cut the tension a little, I made a joke and said to the woman in front of me that the angry guy probably just needed his blood pressure medication.

That’s when a woman behind me who turned out to be with the offending line jumper turned her anger at me.

“What’s wrong with you?” she screamed. “Why are you making fun of someone who is mentally ill?”

I apologized profusely, telling her I was only trying to make a joke to cut the tension. “I would never have made a comment if I knew the guy had mental issues,” I said. “I’m sorry I was offensive.”

“No, you think mental illness is funny,” she screamed.

Thankfully, by then the big guy was waited on and came for his female companion. I was glad because I was afraid we would wind up being a statistic of physical attack.

Whew. I never thought I would encounter all that just standing in a pharmacy line.

I do have to stress that interactions with strangers are seldom like that. They are more likely to be positive.

I’ve often been totally amazed at how helpful strangers can be.

When I was driving along a parkway, the guy in the car next to me caught my attention and said my tire was going flat.

That total stranger put a little air in my tire and said it might be enough for me to drive to the nearest tire dealer. Then he followed me to make sure I got there safely. How nice.

So many times I have nice encounters with strangers.

When my husband and I went a friend’s birthday dinner we couldn’t sit with our friends because all the seats were filled.

We sat with strangers and met the nicest couple. We learned that like us, they were dancers and kayakers. The woman was also a writer like me.

The four of us went on to share many nice social outings until they moved away.

I actually like sitting with people I don’t know because that’s a great way to expand friendships.

I truly enjoy people and believe every encounter with strangers has the potential to enrich our lives in some unexpected way.

My best friend, on the other hand, is like many people who are uncomfortable with strangers. “I don’t want to put myself through that,” she insists.

I point to her the irony of that because everyone is a stranger when you first meet them. My best friend and I never would have enjoyed the rich friendship we have if she wasn’t receptive to talking with me when we met for the first time.

“That’s different because we connected right from the start,” she says. That’s true. But I point out to her that it first involved talking to strangers.

From our initial conversation we knew we would hit it off. Fifty years later, we are still best friends.

My friend says as we age we are less willing to make new friends.

I don’t find that to be true. I want new friends much more now than I did in the past when I was busy with family.

So bring on the strangers, because for me it’s like hunting in a box of crackerjacks. You never know what prize you will find.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.