Yesterday, Ken and I were out in the field for work, and we ran into a lady with whom we both used to work. Nice lady, friendly, positive. Hadn’t seen her since she transferred away into another department, so we stopped to chat.
Ken is the gregarious one, and he and our co-worker traded stories about their kids and family life. Then she turned to me, and asked me how I was doing.
And instead of saying, “Oh, nothin’, really” and having the conversation pass me by… I blurted out the first thing I could think of.
“I’m going to Cancún for Christmas! I’m really looking forward to it!”
She responded with surprise and delight, and shared a quick story about almost going to Mexico herself, years ago, for a summer vacation, and I mentioned having gone there once before and having a great time, and we all agreed that tropical beaches sounded like a much better plan than the bitter cold we’ve had in Portland the past couple of days.
It was… fun. And all because I didn’t just let my turn in the conversation go by.
I’m going to try that more often, I think.