Strangers, Stickers & Serendipity

While transiting through Singapore airport last summer, the family did what most families do after a long vacation - found food, scrolled through phones, and declared the airport sofas 'good enough beds.'

Me? I wandered off to my happy place. (No points for guessing...it had pens, paper, washi tape, and sticker packs that could melt your resolve in five seconds flat.)

Inside that quiet, well-lit stationery shop, I did what I always do: touched every notebook like it was a rare artefact, admired the rainbow of pens, and eventually found myself rooted in front of a wall FULL of stickers.

A few seconds later, I heard an audible sigh.
Another woman, about my age, stood next to me with her mouth half open, taking in that same glorious wall of adorable stickers.
I chuckled under my breath and said, “Yeah, this is heaven for me too!”

She smiled. “Isn’t it really?”

Me: “I’m the stationery freak in my family.”

She (laughing): “Oh me too! My kids think I’m crazy. They’re all at the electronics store across the hall.”

And just like that, we bonded. We stood there for ten minutes geeking out over our favourite kinds of stationery.
She was a high school teacher from Texas. I told her I ran a personalized stationery business back home in India. We exchanged notes on sticker brands and planner layouts like old friends.

Eventually, we both picked the same set of stickers, smiled knowingly at each other, and she said, “See you in some stationery shop at some airport, sometime, somewhere.” We didn’t even exchange names!

I don’t know her name.
But for those few minutes, we spoke a shared language that didn’t need introductions.
Of paper and planners.
Stickers and sanity.
And the quiet joy of finding YOUR people in the most unexpected places.

This morning, that sticker pack slid out from my planner.
Still pristine.
Still perfect.
Still haven’t really used it (obviously!)
Still makes me think of that random, lovely chat in Changi with a kindred soul.