Reaching out

I'd like to talk about our relationships to the people we see everyday, but do not know. People that you see walking down the street, passing by you on your way to work or home. You don't know their names, but you might have seen them more than once, or maybe not. If you saw one of these people crying, would you hug them? No, most of us would certainly not. Why? We are afraid of the awkwardness that might ensue after a hug. Would you ask them if they need something, like money or a place to stay? No, probably not, because we are scared of who they are and what they might do. If you let them in your home they might steal our things or simply take advantage of our hospitality! Or worse yet, they might kill us!
Why are we so distrustful of our fellow human beings? Where did this fear come from? Is it well founded? No, it is not. It is ridiculous that we have such a fear. I know you see horrible stories on the news of people that are murdered and kidnapped, raped and burglarized, but these incidents don't happen nearly as often as you think. And most of the time the criminals that commit these crimes know the victims personally.
I think it's important that we start letting down our guards, letting people in, even if just briefly. If you see someone crying in public, they most definitely are in a bad place. How many times have you cried in public? I can count the instances for myself on one hand. And in each of those instances, I would have appreciated it if someone who didn't know me simply asked me if I was OK. It's not that I would have told them what was wrong, but it feels good knowing that people care. If someone would have just said, "Hey, do you need anything? Can I be of help to you in anyway?"
We assume everyone is out to get us, but wouldn't you agree that most people are just like you? They are! We are all so alike, yet we are all so scared of each other. We make assumptions about everyone's personality the minute we see them, and we judge them so harshly.
I am just as guilty of all this as everyone else, but I have a strong desire to change it. There's a girl who lives in her car near where I live. I walk by her at least twice a day, and she's always there. I want so badly to knock on her car door and ask her if she needs anything. I have not been able to bring myself to do it yet, because I am nervous that she might be defensive, or upset. I am afraid of the awkwardness. I am also afraid that by the time I get the nerve to do it, she will be gone, and I will never know if she's OK.
What can we do to overcome this fear of other people? To be open and trusting of the people who surround us all the time would be so comforting! To know that if you were hurt physically or emotionally, you would only have to open the door and look around until you saw someone and then you could depend on that person for support.
This is where I would usually wrap it up with some sort of conclusion, some sort of semi-solution to the problem, but I feel like the world I am wishing for is so far from the one we are living in, that I don't know where to begin.