Advice From A Stranger, by Olivia Mulligan 
 
I asked 70 strangers, “Please give me a piece of life advice.”

I used their responses as inspiration to write my next poem. This poetry collection is the result.

The youngest stranger I asked was six years old. The oldest stranger was eighty-something.

Some were asked in the queue at the supermarket or the post office. One time I asked the waiter at a restaurant. I also asked Joanne, who was trying to sell me car insurance on the phone.

My favourite? It’s hard to choose. “Don’t tie your shoelace in a revolving door” said by a chap called Russell was a corker.

“Spend time with the people you love” said Nicole, aged nine, on a day when I was feeling particularly alone, really pulled on my heart strings.

And then “Make every day count” said Matt, was a particular fond memory. I met this stranger by chance in a woodland car park It was a cold winter's day and I had been for a run in the woods. Caked in mud I arrived back at the car park only to find I had somehow locked my car keys in the car. He was an incredibly kind man. With conversation flowing, of course, I had to ask him for his life advice.

When I was younger I was told, ‘don’t talk to strangers.’

Good advice.

But on this occasion, I am so glad I did.