Do you make friends easily?
Perhaps it’s the ascendancy of aging, I no longer find making new friends in my conventional to-do list. I am also of the view that if making friends is a conscious intent, there often lies an unconscious agenda. In my ideal world, friendship should transpire through the realms of common themes engagements. We often heard or even experienced it ourselves… “We used to work together, and we became good friends”.
Of course, if the other party ignites your romantic interest; by all means, make the approach, get that number, send that text, build that friendship. After all, your agenda is quite conscious and apparent :)
In the last 13 months where I have taken the bus to my place of work, this man would be here at this bus stop. He would arrived via a ride of a different route, and we would take the same connecting bus. He was quite elderly, evidently different from the rest who were all students.
It did not take long before the small talk began. The weather certainly helped, the initial days were freezing cold and nothing beats a common displeasure — the cold.
And so it began; each workday morning, approximately 15 minutes of combined time at the bus-stop and bus-ride; we would talk. The conversations led me to discover that he is a New Zealander (he wanted to perform the haka once at the bus-stop), works as a prep-chef, has visited 60+ countries and intends to make it to 100, loves the nature, has a bird-feeder in his backyard, and much more.
Some days, he would give me some goodies made by his wife for breakfast.
His latest adventure was to the African animal kingdom, where he stood a mere 10-feet from a lioness. It was not his first trip to Africa, he relayed to me how he lost his virginity in a camp with leopards and hyenas running around the tent at night while he…. well… he asked me not to tell his wife.
No, I did not tell him how I lost mine.
I will go on to find out that his heart is not doing too well. On days where he was not at the bus-stop (and not jetsetting around the globe), it would likely be an appointment at the doctor. Whenever we talked about it, I could literally see the light being plucked out from his face.
Hence, if our conversations were a song, “Life is short, enjoy it. Live life” would be the chorus.
13 months came and gone, and I will no longer take this bus to work.
“Who am I going to talk to?”, Richard asked, and smiled.
Well, perhaps one day I will visit the place he worked and have a meal there. He told me to be sure to look for him in the kitchen and he will ensure my meals will be well looked after.
It was not a conscious effort but throught he realm of common theme, I have made a friend at the bus stop.
