Alex Chadwick is sitting in Union Station in Washington looking for someone to share their story with him, it doesn’t take long before a man sits across the table from him and talks about how he went from being a homeless “bum” to a well dressed man.

“Don’t talk to strangers.” That’s what your mother probably always used to tell you, it was good advice in most cases, though we’ve become virtual hermits living lives that aren’t ordinarily open to new connections with people we don’t know. It’s the modern default to keep ones self to themselves and not to talk to strangers, and I happen to think that’s somewhat of a sad situation to be in.

Alex Chadwick has travelled across America in search of random connections, finding people who are willing to talk to a stranger. In his distinctive hat and sat behind a small table with a hand written sign that reads “Interviews 50c” he doesn’t look threatening, and as such he has managed to engage some ordinary people, who like most of us, has a story that’s just waiting to be told.

In the interview above, filmed at Union Station in Washington DC, an elegantly dressed man named William tells Chadwick about how he used to be a homeless “bum” asking people for spare change at the very same location just a year before.

“That’s how God can change you.” Says William, a reformed drug addict who credits his life change to God.

He told Chadwick that he had been free of drugs before and that he was aware that falling back into drug dependancy was always possible. I Googled William trying to find out if perhaps he had written something somewhere online about his interview with Chadwick, but my searches drew a blank.

“I know how cunning, baffling and powerful drugs are. I go to AA, NA, I go to recovery, relapse prevention groups.” He said.

I guess William is out there somewhere, and I hope he’s still dressing sharp, still drug free, and doing okay. Maybe he’s still walking around Union Station in DC talking to people telling his story?

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