I overheard a soldier tell someone he wanted to spend some time together and figure out where things were at with them.
We were all sitting outside at a Starbucks in East Texas, he was in uniform and presumably off duty whereas as I was on duty, but not in uniform.
Though I haven’t a clue what his MOS is there is a greater chance of him being involved in something in which mistakes might lead to serious injury or loss of life than myself in the line of work.
Scratch that, upon reflection there are a few ways in which it can happen with me, but still unlikely.
Regardless prior to putting my Airpods in my ears so that I could focus on sending some emails I restrained myself from turning around to coach him to take her by the hand and say, “our story isn’t over it is evolving. All I want to do spend some time with you and see where it goes.”
A Cellphone World
Truth is I only glanced at the soldier long enough to confirm who was speaking but I am not certain if he was speaking to the woman sitting nearby or if he was on the phone.
We live in a cellphone world and he easily could have been connected to someone on a hundred cellphone towers away or not.
I often walk through public spaces plugged into whatever I am listening to on Audible or the latest Howard Stern interview because I have chosen to live inside my electronic bubble.
But not always.
Sometimes I intentionally wander around listening to conversations around me as I people watch and imagine the stories that are tied to whomever I happen to be looking at.
Many people seem to be unaware how much personal information they share as they babble away on their electronic tethers or maybe they simply don’t care.
I tend to be be hyper conscious of how loud my voice is when I am speaking out in public and cognizant of what I am discussing.
That’s because I find it irritating to be forced to be a part of just one side of a conversation I probably don’t want to participate in anyway.
So in an effort to avoid hypocrisy I focus on trying to be more considerate. I like to believe I am good about it, but maybe I am not,
Reminds me of a time at the gym when a guy on the elliptical across from me unclenched his cheeks and let his trumpet blow.
If he hadn’t been ensconced in his electronic bubble he would have known the gym stereo system had been put on pause and everyone within earshot knew he had eaten too much roughage at lunch.
Three Days Or Three Years
Took some time out of the weekend to do some planning for the professional world I occupy because I knew it would save me time during the coming week.
It reminded me of something I wrote here and after I read it I scratched my head and wondered if it was three days or three years since then.
Later on as I sat on a bench in the gym tying my shoe I listened to some of the high school boys talk about the scariest things a person could experience.
One saw me shake my head and asked if I could come up with something scarier.
I nodded my head and said they probably wouldn’t understand.
“There is nothing more frightening than when something is going on with one of your children and you don’t know what will happen. I’d walk into Hell covered in gasoline and fight the devil without a second thought if that meant avoiding that particular situation.”
They said I was correct and that was something they couldn’t relate to.
I nodded my head, walked out into the weight room and went through my routine. Thought back to the day my oldest was born and my paternal grandfather told me that you never stop worrying about your kids.
He smiled and told me not to overthink it but be prepared to never sleep the same way.
“Your father is 57 and capable of taking care of himself, but I still worry sometimes. I still have my opinions and thoughts about what he does and how he does it. You will too, we all do. The population isn’t shrinking so it works out more often than it doesn’t.
But life just got better and just got harder. Enjoy the ride, it is worth it.”
Grandpa was correct, but I know where some of the wrinkles, gray hairs and mystery aches come from. 😉
