Listen up!
I'd like to share something with you that happened to me at work the other day.
An older man came up to the kiosk counter and asked for a mug (the paper kind, for coffee). I asked if he meant to buy coffee and he answered that he brought his own, he just needed the mug. Fair enough, I thought, and went to get him one.
His hair had turned white and he was wearing worn out clothes and shoes. I gave him the mug and expected him to leave once he got what he came for. He didn't seem like he was going anywhere though, he stayed and he kept talking. I'm not sure how the topic came up, because at first I honestly wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. Suddenly he mentioned a certain school that he attended when he was young. The same one that I went to when I studied theatre! This caught my attention, I got excited and told him that I had been a student there too. The old man's eyes lit up with excitement as well, and he started telling me story after story about his life. What the school was like when he went in the 60's, what he had worked with, things like that. He looked even more worn out than his clothes, tired in a way, but his eyes were kind. "It's been a lively life", he said "a lot has happened. A lot".
After about 10 minutes of conversation, another customer came up and I started serving him. Before the old man left, he told me his name and said "See, we have a lot in common". I smiled and thought to myself that he was right. He was so incredibly happy to be listened to, to have a conversation with somebody who was actually paying attention. And I was happy too! What a beautiful thing, to connect with a stranger and learn all these stories.
My point is that had I not decided to actually listen to what he had to say, I would have missed out on this feeling of connection (and some fun facts from the past!). People carry so many great stories, if we only care to open up to them.
An older man came up to the kiosk counter and asked for a mug (the paper kind, for coffee). I asked if he meant to buy coffee and he answered that he brought his own, he just needed the mug. Fair enough, I thought, and went to get him one.
His hair had turned white and he was wearing worn out clothes and shoes. I gave him the mug and expected him to leave once he got what he came for. He didn't seem like he was going anywhere though, he stayed and he kept talking. I'm not sure how the topic came up, because at first I honestly wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. Suddenly he mentioned a certain school that he attended when he was young. The same one that I went to when I studied theatre! This caught my attention, I got excited and told him that I had been a student there too. The old man's eyes lit up with excitement as well, and he started telling me story after story about his life. What the school was like when he went in the 60's, what he had worked with, things like that. He looked even more worn out than his clothes, tired in a way, but his eyes were kind. "It's been a lively life", he said "a lot has happened. A lot".
After about 10 minutes of conversation, another customer came up and I started serving him. Before the old man left, he told me his name and said "See, we have a lot in common". I smiled and thought to myself that he was right. He was so incredibly happy to be listened to, to have a conversation with somebody who was actually paying attention. And I was happy too! What a beautiful thing, to connect with a stranger and learn all these stories.
My point is that had I not decided to actually listen to what he had to say, I would have missed out on this feeling of connection (and some fun facts from the past!). People carry so many great stories, if we only care to open up to them.