Life..........and living intensely

Early wednes. morn (or late tues. depending how you look at it) finds me sitting here in Carbondale, IL eating assorted vegetables with an experimental combination of spices and typing to you all on whatever screen you may be reading this from. Sometimes in life, from time to time there are people, events, weather patterns, or places that cause us to step back and examine our views on life and the world as we know it. We should always be open to these moments to heed the potential for learning they hold. None of us are perfect, nor will we be in this lifetime, thus we're always learning.....until the moment we close our eyes a final time, we are all impressionable sponges. I was traveling yesterday from florida to Illinois. (as rick steves says, "traveling is living, intensified") It was a long drive, so there was time to think, contemplate, and stop for a gas. Well, after driving 6 hours straight my bladder and stomach were telling me that it was time for dinner and a pee stop (but not in that corresponding order ;-) ) So, I got dinner at wendy's (I've been on this Frescata sandwich kick lately, AND by ordering it in a value meal along with a salad as your side, well, dang that's a healthy meal) and then purchased a king sized kit-kat for desert and decided to making my stop a culinary triumvirate by ordering a mocha latte (what? I hear you asking. yes. there was an old savannah coffee and tea company in this gas/rest stop, but my expectations weren't high) so, the girl seemed a little confused on the order (but I think it was me not talking straight because I was really really hungry and hadn't started in on the wendy's yet) she got a little testy, but hey, when you're working a coffee counter in a gas station I probably would be to. So, she finished the drink (thank goodness they didn't use powdered chocolate like the book&bean in Bruton, AL argh); rang up my order and asked me to try it to see if it was ok before I paid for it....well, anyone who asks my opinion of a mocha latte is setting themselves up. Anyhow, trumpet playing leaves me with sensitive lips, so I usually can't drink coffee or espresso right out of the can. I just said the drink was "OK" to avoid a long debate on the finer points of espresso and lattes of the mocha variety. Well, when I said something to the affect of being a mocha connoisseur she said that her favorite one was from a little hole-in-the-wall italian place in Detroit, MI. I siad , "Ahhh, MI, that's where I was born and raised." I mentioned Sandusky, but even most MI people don't know where Sandusky is. (all this has a point by the way, so keep readng) Anyhow, I asked how she ended up behind a coffee counter in po-dunk TN. Well, she went on to explain that she moved down there with her mom since her mom has family down in TN. Not unusual, but if she didn't like it there so much, then why didn't she leave? Well, turns out that her mom has a brain tumor and she is there working a job and taking care of her mother. We went from coffee to brain tumors in 30 sec. where do you go from there? I expressed my admiration towards her as a human being and what she's doing for her mom and then went on my way. I think someone once said said, "every man is an iceberg." I'll cliffnote it for you..........the people we see every day, those with frowns, those with the bags under their eyes, those with unkempt hair, even the ones with smiles.....all of them have a story, and we only see the %20 that peeks above the surface. Have you ever sat in a train car next to someone and wondered, "what did they have for breakfast? who was the last person they called? Did they have trouble picking out what they were going to wear? maybe they're worried about being fired today; what do they go home to at the end of a day...a week" There's always more than meets the eye to any person, no matter how transparent one claims to be. And it is our task to look at, and through this exterior to try to at least meet people where they're at. We may not understand them, but that's ok, and it doesn't mean that you can't have a positive affect on that day, or on their life. Keep on smiling. You may be that person's moment that causes them to step back, look; and it may even change their view of their life, forever.