Hello! Hope you spent Thanksgiving in the company of people who care about you. I took time -off with my wife and kids at an Airbnb vacation home in the beautiful town of Durham, North Carolina. 

On Thanksgiving morning, I woke up early as usual and stepped out for a walk. My family was asleep, so I was out exploring the woods and the town by myself. The walk gave me a chance to talk to some of the locals who were out walking their dogs. 

During my stroll, I came across a magnificent large home located on the top of a hill. On the entrance was written ‘Wonderland’ on a massive iron gate that was locked. 

But I felt intrigued and wanted to know more. Just then, I met a person walking his dog, and I started chatting with him. On asking if he knew the owners of this home, the stranger smiled at me. He said, “Are you new here?”  

On learning that I was visiting, he started sharing the house’s somewhat macabre story. The owner Michael Peterson, an American novelist, was convicted in 2003 of murdering his second wife, Kathleen Peterson, on December 9, 2001. Eight years later, he was released from prison after he was granted a new trial, and the charge was reduced from murder to manslaughter. 

Such was the mystery surrounding the case that the story was made into a Netflix documentary called “The Staircase.”

They say, ‘curiosity killed the cat,’ but I am glad that my inquisitiveness led to the discovery of such a real-life mystery. I couldn’t wait to get back to the room to watch the 13-part documentary. 

The point I want to make by sharing this incident is that you never know what you may find unless you talk to people and ask around. 

And the same rule applies in business as well. The more you get out there and interact with people, the more likely you will discover something new, something worth knowing.

We all tend to avoid talking to strangers these days, but I am grateful that the fellow early morning walker stopped for a few minutes to share this story with me. 

Happy Thanksgiving 2020 to you and your family and please do share or comment on this article if you have the same level of curiosity as I have to learn about strangers?

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