In the course of an ordinary day, how many strangers do you see?

Let’s define “stranger” as someone that you have not, to your knowledge, ever seen before (and not just someone that you don’t know personally). Someone new to your eyes.

And let’s define “see” as “having within your field of vision,” and not specifically encountering in some way. If you work in a library, it might be the number of library patrons you notice but don’t recognize (haven’t seen before) as you move around outside and inside and not just the ones who approach you.

Let’s say an ordinary or average day is the way you spend most of your days and nights, such as a typical workday and evening.

So, for instance, if you work in a coffee shop in a small town where you know everyone in town and an out-of-towner passes through an average of once a week, your answer would be “less than one.”

If you work in New York and ride the subway to work, your answer might be “several thousand” (that number is close enough).

Don’t count the shopping mall, the airport, or the stadium or convocation hall unless that’s someplace you usually go to every day.

When you give your answer, please also tell us what thoughts came up for you as you were considering this question.