Hey, there are people at our picnic table! Drew peered out the living room window to where the table had been moved under the tree. Four young men. No one we have ever seen here before. What are they doing? From their apparel they have just been swimming. They chat and smoke and enjoy cool drinks. Who are they? Perhaps new residents of the complex. Maybe they even live in the other side of our building.
Our reaction can either be defensive (we don't want strangers using our stuff) or embracing (how delightful! new people to get to know). Sometimes its difficult to stay on the upside and not get territorial like Sugar. I do not push an introduction. When the opportunity presents itself, I will interact with the new comers. Like our new neighbor in the building across from ours.
I suspect this gentleman is having a bit of a bumpy time. We struck up a conversation the other day, and turns out he quit his job because of philosophical differences. He just didn't feel that the company was following upstanding business practices. But as I see him coming and going, I realize he doesn't have a job right now. He is alternately friendly and surly. I can understand how challenging it is to be unemployed. I need to figure out how to be supportive without offending.
Meanwhile, I encounter one last new table. Well, not new really. Just annual. We held our summer student picnic, gathering at a colleague's house and circling our lawn chairs in the back yard while the hamburgs were grilling. How nice to kick back and just chat. I think I surprised some of the students who were not used to seeing me in shades and a baseball hat. One of those jarring disconnects.
The purpose here is to NOT be strangers gathered around a table, but to get to know each other better beyond just working in the same place. We share stories and memories and jokes. We recount people, places and events that have shaped our lives. We linger around the fire, some roasting marsh mellows for s'mores. What a lovely evening. The weather was perfect, the food good, the people pleasant. Hard to tear ourselves away and return to our separate lives.
Our reaction can either be defensive (we don't want strangers using our stuff) or embracing (how delightful! new people to get to know). Sometimes its difficult to stay on the upside and not get territorial like Sugar. I do not push an introduction. When the opportunity presents itself, I will interact with the new comers. Like our new neighbor in the building across from ours.
I suspect this gentleman is having a bit of a bumpy time. We struck up a conversation the other day, and turns out he quit his job because of philosophical differences. He just didn't feel that the company was following upstanding business practices. But as I see him coming and going, I realize he doesn't have a job right now. He is alternately friendly and surly. I can understand how challenging it is to be unemployed. I need to figure out how to be supportive without offending.
Meanwhile, I encounter one last new table. Well, not new really. Just annual. We held our summer student picnic, gathering at a colleague's house and circling our lawn chairs in the back yard while the hamburgs were grilling. How nice to kick back and just chat. I think I surprised some of the students who were not used to seeing me in shades and a baseball hat. One of those jarring disconnects.
The purpose here is to NOT be strangers gathered around a table, but to get to know each other better beyond just working in the same place. We share stories and memories and jokes. We recount people, places and events that have shaped our lives. We linger around the fire, some roasting marsh mellows for s'mores. What a lovely evening. The weather was perfect, the food good, the people pleasant. Hard to tear ourselves away and return to our separate lives.
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