I'm a talker. It can be a problem. I have teenagers now and they do not have a filter when speaking to me and they are very quick to inform me that my friendliness is odd in this day and age. I get that. Most people have their head buried into their phone most of the time, and have absolutely zero interest in talking to you.
The thing is...I meet the most interesting people when I talk to strangers.
Last Saturday I sat in a salon waiting on my daughter. My daughter was preparing for a formal dance. A lady sat down beside me. I was on the phone with my friend Leah. Leah and I have pretty animated conversations and when Leah told me that her new trainer was named Sheryl and I asked her to ask how her she shed was the woman sitting beside me laughed out loud. (I knew we would be tight because if I can make you laugh you are pretty high on my list.) I hung up with Leah because I knew I was being rude. The lady beside me was also waiting for her daughter to get ready for a formal. We spoke of our daughters, and how we had to bring them to a salon because the ways of the make up were lost on us. We compared notes on each other's school rules regarding attire and our thoughts on that. We were aligned in all things parental. She was a nice person. I would totally have lunch with her!
Tonight I met a young man who I would assume to be late 20s early 30's. He was wearing a school house rocks tee shirt and warm up pants. I will be completely honest to say that he at first scared me a little. He was EXTREMELY muscular. However, I am not one to judge a book by its cover and we were in a pretty small waiting room so I knew that the music I was hearing must be coming from the person he was waiting for. I asked as such and he told me that his son who was 12 years old and 6 feet tall had decided he wanted to learn to play the violin. I said does he have any interest in basketball? The young man went on to explain to me that he had been short as a child and wanted to be good at basketball but didn't have the height and now his son has the height and has zero interest in sports. So, of course what do you assume that this 12 year old looked like? Skinny string bean nerdy kid? That is what I had pictured in my head, but wait there's more.
I went on to have an excellent conversation filled with laughter and learning and even a person we both knew. We had so much in common this random stranger and I. I thoroughly enjoyed waiting for my daughter to complete her lesson. His son finished first. He came around the corner violin in tow. Had someone told me he was a new recruit for a college football team I wouldn't have even batted an eye. He most definitely had the size but you could tell he was a quiet shy kind young man. He even had the hair that most of the men in the NFL have and most of all he had the most beautiful smile!
Part of the problem with the world now is that people don't know how to communicate! Did you know that it is absolutely ok to have a disagreement with someone and still be their friend? Shocking I know! There are too many people in this world to assume that we all should think the same way. Do not distance yourself from some one because you don't know them, instead take the time to find out your common ground.
I want to add that it is also totally okay to bury your head in your phone when you are in a mean hateful mad at the world mood because we don't need to be spreading that around.
Most of all...Go out...Be kind!
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