Because of our busy schedules Barb and I need to go out for dinner a couple times a week. Not complaining, I really enjoy going out. We like a restraint with alcohol and typically, we sit at the bar. For me it’s a social outing. You get to know the bartenders and meet interesting people also looking for that social connection. Barb loves watching the bartenders make the drinks to get ideas.
As you can guess, we have been meeting and getting to know some interesting people. One bartender impractically, Alyssa. She always greets us by saying, “Hello Beautiful People.”
Well, she really needs glasses, but it still makes us feel special. We got a little better look into her life the other night. She is now working two jobs and we stopped by her new place of employment to say hi and get a drink. When you talk with her, she has the ability to make you feel very welcome in just a few words. She has a quick but dry wit that I really enjoy, and you can tell she is very intelligent. A little bio: She is 29 years old, has a degree as a paramedic with the fire department, and works as a bartender at two very nice restaurants.
What made me want to write this article spurred from a conversation shortly after Barb and I celebrated our 45th anniversary this last June (yeah, that’s right, 45 years. Usually about here I look for someone to say, “But you’re so young! It can’t be possible!”).
Anyway, we stopped in for a drink to say hi to Alyssa at her new restaurant as well as some other bartenders we now know. Same greeting, different bar. When we informed her that we just had our 45th, she says, “45 years, I can’t even sign a one-year lease, you guys need to run my life. I felt suffocated with a one-year lease.”
I know that statement was more of a generational difference, but then she shared more about her life with us. Just in a lot more detail than listed above. The fact that she felt so comfortable with us sharing this personal information made me feel honored. She may not know it, but this conversation, along with previous ones from other visits, left a mark on me.
As I get older, I no longer take these conversations for granted. For someone to share personal details about their life means we made a connection. A small spark, or even a friendship. She may not realize it, but I think she is going to do great things with her life.
Did we leave a mark on her? I don’t know but I hope so. Sometimes these small incidental conversations click, and something happens. You have made a connection with another person. What you make of it or take away from it, is up to you. If you’re lucky and you look for these moments, you’ll be surprised at how many there are. You just have to be open to them.
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