Transient connections

New York Journal | Nothing is random in a city full of seemingly chance encounters | Alisa Harris

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NEW YORK—Last Sunday I got on the subway to go to church and walked toward an empty seat. I saw that the woman next to it had spilled a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee at her feet, so I walked the other way and sat down, glanced at the girl sitting next to me, and saw something rare enough here to start a conversation. She was reading a Bible.

In New York you can walk to the life soundtrack you choose, with your headphones plugging your ears and shutting out the beggars and strangers you literally bump into each day. Then, while you're simultaneously tweeting and walking somewhere, there are moments like this—where you have to decide if you're going to make friends with a stranger.

A recent New York magazine piece explores the transient connections New Yorkers make every day, asking "Is Urban Loneliness a Myth?" and arguing that New York is not a lonely place. It doesn't have to be, especially not for someone believing in a providential hand that guides the random meetings of a million strangers.