My wife likes to tease me that I collect people. Not in a creepy way, of course—more like a modern-day anthropologist with an oversized social Rolodex. And I suppose she’s not wrong. I’m an unrepentant collector of human connection. Some folks gather coins, others hoard vintage wines or mid-century furniture. Me? I accumulate friends.

Maybe it’s the New Orleans in me. I grew up there, where it’s not just polite to chat with strangers—it’s practically a civic duty. In the Crescent City, you don’t just “pass someone in the street.” You greet them, ask how their momma’s doing, maybe invite them over for red beans and rice. I suppose I never shook the habit.

Text: Jeffrey Cohen