Walking home last night, I saw a man shoveling the sidewalk and stopped to talk to him.
"Hey," I said. "Is it your dog that I always see out here?"
"It's my father's dog," he said.
"Oh, well, it's a really friendly dog. I always pet it when I walk by."
"Thanks. My father can't really take him out for walks, so he just lets him out. We try to come by and walk him when we can. My father's 95."
"Oh... Anyway, it's a really nice dog."
I could've left it at that, and I almost did. But halfway down the block, I turned around and jogged back to the man.
"If you want, I could come by and walk the dog sometime."
And that lead to an exchanging of phone numbers and names (the man's name is Wo, the dog's name is Rex, thus he's saved in my phone as "Wo Rex") and stories. He learned I'm an improvisor and informed me that he, too, is a performer. A musician. And both his daughters are musical theater geeks (he didn't say geeks, but I took it that way... I think geek is a very high compliment).
It was a Chicago moment.
I sometimes wonder if I annoy people with my talkativeness. Usually, I think strangers like it when I talk to them. For example: this morning, squeezing out of the train, instead of grunting, "Coming out," like most people do, I said, "Excuse me, I'm getting out here. I'm just going to squeeze by. Thanks so much! Have a nice day!" Maybe it was over-kill. It probably was. But people were smiling at me, and I think I heard a titter from one of the people I went by. I feel awkward just shoving people without saying anything. Plus, people need a little cheer on a bitter cold morning like this. Moods are contagious: why not be happy?
OK, it may be a tad narcissistic to assume that I have that much of an effect on people's moods. Even if I only made one person just a little happier, I feel pretty good about that. Talk to strangers, people! It's fun.
"Hey," I said. "Is it your dog that I always see out here?"
"It's my father's dog," he said.
"Oh, well, it's a really friendly dog. I always pet it when I walk by."
"Thanks. My father can't really take him out for walks, so he just lets him out. We try to come by and walk him when we can. My father's 95."
"Oh... Anyway, it's a really nice dog."
I could've left it at that, and I almost did. But halfway down the block, I turned around and jogged back to the man.
"If you want, I could come by and walk the dog sometime."
And that lead to an exchanging of phone numbers and names (the man's name is Wo, the dog's name is Rex, thus he's saved in my phone as "Wo Rex") and stories. He learned I'm an improvisor and informed me that he, too, is a performer. A musician. And both his daughters are musical theater geeks (he didn't say geeks, but I took it that way... I think geek is a very high compliment).
It was a Chicago moment.
I sometimes wonder if I annoy people with my talkativeness. Usually, I think strangers like it when I talk to them. For example: this morning, squeezing out of the train, instead of grunting, "Coming out," like most people do, I said, "Excuse me, I'm getting out here. I'm just going to squeeze by. Thanks so much! Have a nice day!" Maybe it was over-kill. It probably was. But people were smiling at me, and I think I heard a titter from one of the people I went by. I feel awkward just shoving people without saying anything. Plus, people need a little cheer on a bitter cold morning like this. Moods are contagious: why not be happy?
OK, it may be a tad narcissistic to assume that I have that much of an effect on people's moods. Even if I only made one person just a little happier, I feel pretty good about that. Talk to strangers, people! It's fun.
You and I are sickeningly similar. I told Mike a heartwarming story about warming someone's heart by saying "happy thanksgiving" to them and he said to me, "yeah, but your Crazy-meter doesn't go off like other people's Crazy-meters". I guess we've got mal-adjusted Crazy-meters because we say hi to people and wish to cheer people up rather than just let them be. When given the opportunity to make someone's day better, why not take it?
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