One thing the good Lord has blessed me with is outwardly apparent trustworthiness. What am I trying to impart by that? I mean to say that I get a lot of personal information from a lot of sources. I listen to whatever needs to be said and I become a steward of stories. There's the standard: being a listener and confidant for my best friends. There's the understandable: being the most frequently held eye contact in any and every accountability group I've been in. There's the strange: hearing more than expected from acquaintances. And there's the downright confusing: being chosen out of many by a complete stranger for relationship advice. Here are some highlight from one of those downright confusing episodes that occurred last semester.
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What's your name?
Molly. What's yours?
Brian. What year are you?
Fourth.
Ohh. I'm a second year.
What's your major?
CS. You?
I'm nuclear.
Oh! You're one of those mythological creatures.
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I have a thing for young girls sitting by themselves. I am sorry my English is not too good, I normally speak Spanish, so forgive me any misgivings.
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Let me tell you about him. His name is Mike[...]and he is in love with a girl. Crazy love. Named Amanda. And...see? He's scratching his head wondering why things didn't work out.
Oh, so he and Amanda aren't together?
No, I mean, he would like to be. Mike is so in love with Amanda but it just wasn't working out. Why do you think that is?
I don't know. Maybe she just wasn't feeling it? Or maybe there was someone else?
Oh. Maybe. And what would be this "someone else"'s name? It would have to by Kyle or Tyler or some other cussy name. Man, how bad would it be if your dad's name was Kyle or Tyler. What is your dad's name?
Kyle.
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Wherever you are, Brian, I hope "Mike" is figuring things out with "Amanda".
Molly. What's yours?
Brian. What year are you?
Fourth.
Ohh. I'm a second year.
What's your major?
CS. You?
I'm nuclear.
Oh! You're one of those mythological creatures.
::
I have a thing for young girls sitting by themselves. I am sorry my English is not too good, I normally speak Spanish, so forgive me any misgivings.
::
Let me tell you about him. His name is Mike[...]and he is in love with a girl. Crazy love. Named Amanda. And...see? He's scratching his head wondering why things didn't work out.
Oh, so he and Amanda aren't together?
No, I mean, he would like to be. Mike is so in love with Amanda but it just wasn't working out. Why do you think that is?
I don't know. Maybe she just wasn't feeling it? Or maybe there was someone else?
Oh. Maybe. And what would be this "someone else"'s name? It would have to by Kyle or Tyler or some other cussy name. Man, how bad would it be if your dad's name was Kyle or Tyler. What is your dad's name?
Kyle.
::
Wherever you are, Brian, I hope "Mike" is figuring things out with "Amanda".
I can speak to both sides of the exchange - at least from my experiences.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to talk to a complete stranger about a deeply personal experience because s/he will have very little to say outside of what s/he knows about you in that moment.
Rather than "Yeah, but dude...you've done some dumb stuff before"
or "Pfft 'love'. This is the 'Tempur-Pedic tap-dancing girl' all over again.",
you usually get untainted advice that may prove useful when it comes time to act.
As for being on the receiving end of such things: I take great satisfaction in knowing that I had an influence on (n+1) lives (where n is the people with whom I interact on a regular basis). It's even further satisfying knowing I did my best to give helpful advice, if asked for it.
I also hope Mike figured it out with Amanda.