conversations

I had two meaningful conversations today. One right after the other, in two different ways.

First, I had a meeting with my History prof [Matthew Daley, GVSU - get in one of his classes!]. We had to have a meeting about a paper, before final revisions. It was nice to hear such thoughtful compliments from a professor. He was very proud of my work, writing technique, and overall approach to this paper. After 5 minutes of me having a smile on my face so big it hurt, and him going through my paper, he asked me how I was doing with the other aspects of class. This meeting was meant to be 20 minutes long, and quickly turned into an hour. I enjoyed having an intellectual discussion about teaching styles at a Liberal Arts college, and what to expect when I cross over into Prof World. Witnessing a teacher that amped about History, as well as college in general, was so refreshing. Although he said he couldn't also help with my Linguistics class, he's still okay in my book. :)

After leaving his office and jumping on the bus, I started talking to the bus driver. I have this issue with the lack of acknowledgment that they are real people, with names and lives. Think about it, they have their name slots right next to the rear view mirror, and how many times do you actually use it? I'm one of the people that say thank-you when I get off the bus, but think of putting their name at the end of it. It reminds them that we know they're people, not just bus drivers. Anyways, her name was Dawn and for the 20 minutes of our trip together, we learned about each others lives, and I felt better knowing about her life. I think I've gotten too used to identifying people by their occupations, not their lives. I hope she gets away for her vacation to Washington D.C. like she wants.

So there you have it. Next time you have a few moments, talk to a Prof, bus driver, waitress, dog walker, whatever. Learn their names. Learn their lives. And see past the occupation. It could give you a sense of realization you weren't expecting on another mundane day you're just trying to "get through".