meeting roy

Tomorrow I'm leaving Milwaukee. Wow, what a weird feeling.
So...ask me if I've started packing...


....and I'll answer "NOPE!"

Tonight I'm ordering a pizza, starting a new audio book, and I'm packing the night away. How exciting!

Last night was laundry night. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I haven't done laundry in, well...weeks? (I know mom, a big surprise right?)

So I took all my laundry (about 6 loads) to the local laundromat and brought a good book "God Laughs and Plays" by David James Duncan. Very thought provoking, I love it! (Thanks Vanessa)

And in walks Roy. He seemed at first to be the typical young macho guy trying to hit on me. Ugh...I HATE this. In my head I said "Leave me alone!!!" I was reading my book, trying to act even extra focused on the pages, and he kept talking to me. I was annoyed.

So I put my clothes in the dryer and went out and sat in my car.

But then I started thinking. Why do I close myself off to people? Why can't I be kind to the stranger? Why does that wall have to stay there? We see this same thing when we ride the bus, or in an airplane. Everyone has their book, their iPod, their laptop...and there they sit for hours sometimes NOT speaking to the person sharing an armrest. I don't want to be like that. I want to be kind, I want to be welcoming, I want to learn about people, I want to hear stories, I want to share my life.

So I walked back into the laundromat and I started talking to Roy. I found out that he is a brick layer. He loves his job. He's going to be starting in the Union pretty soon. He loves the feeling of achievement after he builds huge masterpieces from those small hand-held bricks. He seemed to really love life.
And I shared about my own adventures. I told him about South Korea. He was interested.

We had a nice chat as I folded all my clean clothes, towels, underwear, socks...and then I was done.

"Goodbye!", I said. "Good luck with the Union, it was nice to meet you."

A few minutes later he came out to my car and shyly asked if I would keep in touch. I agreed to add him to my email update list. He was thrilled.

I laugh a little when I think about this experience. I'm glad I broke out of my silence. I'm glad I put down my book. I'm glad I met Roy.

I guess the moral of this story is: Be nice to your neighbors...it's worth it.