I was bellied up to the airport bar hoping to quickly pass the time, and ease the nerves, until my flight to Arizona. I have to admit that I am not a lover of flying, I just don’t understand why there has to be turbulence or why I always end up sitting next to someone who forgot to wear deodorant. Never did I think I would have a meaningful conversation with someone at the airport bar.
How to Talk to a Stranger and Have a Meaningful Conversation
Though I have met some of the most interesting people at the airport no conversation had been meaningful enough to complete this goal, until today. Sipping my red wine, I inspected my surroundings. The man to the left of me was typing on his laptop, talking on the phone and drinking a dirty martini, a true multitasker…I can relate. The older man to my right was nursing his $10 Coors Light and immediately struck up a conversation when I looked his way, “Are you from here or just visiting?” Ah, the typical airport starter dialogue.
After the exchanging of generic pleasantries, we got on to the subject of bucket lists (hmmm…I wonder how that happened?) and Dave had an inspiring story which sparked a meaningful conversation.
Through his younger days he had always been interested in the ocean and learning how to scuba dive. Though, as with many of us, his day-to-day life just got in the way of him pursuing his dream. It wasn’t until his late 60s that this dream showed itself again and he knew that he could not deny its fruition. He now spends his time traveling the world exploring sunken ships at the bottom of the ocean…amazing! He pulled out a bag full of related magazines as we discussed where he would be traveling on his next venture, narrowing it down to Barbados, Tahiti or Fiji.
He left me pondering what it would be like to be at the bottom of the sea swimming within a submerged treasure. I think I have just found the next thing to add to my bucket list!
Some of the most rewarding conversations can happen with strangers. I was getting frozen yogurt at this place that my family goes to all of the time and asked the young woman, around my age, 24, what she did for Halloween. We were talking the whole time and I found out that she graduated from college last year, she went to school in NYC and is engaged to a guy she met there. She went to NYC for Halloween to visit them and they went out to dinner. And her fiance is moving to our home town soon to be with her. If you ask the right questions and are genuinely interested, people are excited to talk and share information about themselves, and their energy changes. They get more excited, have more energy and are more open. It's thrilling. To make a quick, but high energy connection like that. More than not I'm closed off to strangers, but it's more exciting when I'm not.
I do love the part when you first meet someone, start talking and realize how interesting they are. Everybody has a story :)
I truly believe everyone has a story. Some people say certain people live boring lives and do not. Publishers would have you believe most people’s lives aren’t interesting enough, but I wish everyone would write a book during their lifetimes. I think each and every person has something they’ve experienced that could teach the world a unique lesson. This is what your blog, my blog, and so many other blogs are all about. I have had many such meaningful conversations