Flickr Scotland

100 Strangers: 3/100, originally uploaded by Miss.Informed.

"I went back to the market with my cousin and new flatmate. We sat behind the statue of King Edward the whoever and munched on a tasty brat sausage and we saw these two gentlemen.

I freely admit it; I eavesdropped. He was speaking with unusual intensity about international politics and globalisation. My curiosity was peaked and I asked him if he would be my next stranger for www.100strangers.com. We spent the next 25 minutes speaking with him and his more silent friend, Carlos (seated on the right).

This gentleman spoke with the evangelical zeal of a preacher. Except, he wasn't preaching hell-fire and redemption. He was passionately anti-capitalist, anti consumerism and socialist. His speech was punctuated by his friend, Carlos' nods of approval and agreement. He asked if I was American and I said no; i did tell him that my cousin had just lived in New York for a year. He told me that being in New York had depressed him, especially when he'd seen flats that had bars to keep people from stealing. "Americans," he said, "are living in spiritual poverty because of the American dream that makes them over consume."

His life has been one of roving: he had lived in New York, Toronto, Iran and on a kibbutz in the Golan Heights. He told us a story of hitch-hiking from Thunder Bay to New York in the middle of winter.

As I was taking this photo, he was telling a story to my cousin and flatmate. Apparently, he was in New York and about to pay for a room at the Waldorf Astoria. A security guard heard his accent and came up to him and asked him; " So Scotty, whaddya think of George Dubya Bush?"

At this point, he paused in his story and stood up to illustrate his point. Then he BOOMED out, in the middle of union street, right next to the international market: "I THINK GEORGE BUSH IS A MOTHER F**KING WANKER" It was so loud that heads across the street swiveled towards us.

On cue, some young man walking down Union shouted back, "F**king too right, he's a wanker!"

I then realised I hadn't even asked his name. Everyone, please meet David."