Friday, February 10, 2006
The Art of Creative Conversation
I've been doing a lot of flying recently, and usually I just sit back, listen to the Ipod, read, and zone out. On my way to Jacksonville, I had a pitstop in Charlotte, NC. While reboarding, a guy about my age sat next to me- he was supposed to be in the middle seat, but he moved over to the window (a very courteous move). We both nervously kept looking up as the flight began to fill up, and prayed that no one would claim the seat between us. When the pilot shut the door, we were so relieved, that we actually started talking to each other. Now, I've been in uncomfortable conversation situations, but this guy seemed nice enough- could I have a good conversation with a stranger.
I creatively kept the conversation going, and learned that he had three kids, lived in JAX, but was moving to NC, was a swimmer for University of Miami, saw three plays while there, was an English Lit Major, wore contacts, was certified in Scuba, his scuba instructor was a Ex Seal, worked for a bank, that most banks center their leadership in rural communities so that there is less pressure, he tried to buy his daughter's kindergarten class happymeals, and was barred from doing so, his 3 year old could ride a bike without training wheels (while his friend's 7 year old couldn't), was worried about his kids becoming teenagers (they were 5,3,&1), had lived in Atlanta, JAX, Miami, Philadelphia, liked going to NYC, Went to Sylvan Learning Center when he was in middle school for Math, liked to manage people (and he seemed like a good manager), got 4 great book recommendations from him, and that he eats a lot of BBQ, and wishes that he could play golf more.
Did he learn that much about me? Probably not. But he's not doing a creative blog.
I creatively kept the conversation going, and learned that he had three kids, lived in JAX, but was moving to NC, was a swimmer for University of Miami, saw three plays while there, was an English Lit Major, wore contacts, was certified in Scuba, his scuba instructor was a Ex Seal, worked for a bank, that most banks center their leadership in rural communities so that there is less pressure, he tried to buy his daughter's kindergarten class happymeals, and was barred from doing so, his 3 year old could ride a bike without training wheels (while his friend's 7 year old couldn't), was worried about his kids becoming teenagers (they were 5,3,&1), had lived in Atlanta, JAX, Miami, Philadelphia, liked going to NYC, Went to Sylvan Learning Center when he was in middle school for Math, liked to manage people (and he seemed like a good manager), got 4 great book recommendations from him, and that he eats a lot of BBQ, and wishes that he could play golf more.
Did he learn that much about me? Probably not. But he's not doing a creative blog.
# posted by Marcos @ 11:25 AM 
