The connection

From the moment we met, it was as if we’d been friends forever.

It was easy and comfortable – like meeting another, slightly different version of myself.

You know what I’m talking about, right? The connection.

You meet someone and everything…just…clicks.

It’s happened maybe five times my whole life.

It’s a profound comfort – like a great big sigh – when you’re together. You could talk and talk and never run out of things to say. Or you could be just as happy sitting silently together for hours.

I consider these connections small miracles.
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A flight attendant is providing connecting information to the folks coming out of the K11 gate at O’Hare airport.

Dallas - Forth Worth. Seattle. San Francisco.

If it was only that easy connecting with people.
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Things are just easier with some people you meet. We want to be around them because they are familiar and comfortable and practically an extension of ourselves.

Then there are The Others.

The ones you couldn’t connect with if your life depended on it.

I’ll give you an example: She never has anything positive to say. And she’s always right – so she’s quick to point out if you’ve done something wrong. Or God forbid if you’ve offended her. You can never have a real conversation with her -- exchanging thoughts and ideas, asking questions. It's just one big long rant and you're her captive audience.

I’ve tried with this person. Really tried. But we will never, ever connect. I can only take about 10 minutes of her and then I’ve gotta be elsewhere quickly.

Still, as much as I love spending time with the people I connect with most, it seems like the lesson is in connecting with The Others – the ones with whom I have nothing in common.
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Yes, I said flight attendant.

I like it. It makes more sense than stewardess.

You see, I’m not entirely anti-PC. If the new word is an improvement over the old, I’m all for it.

Flight attendant gives that person more authority; makes them more powerful.

Stewardess sounds like someone who can serve you coffee and fluff your pillow. A flight attendant sounds capable, like someone you want in charge if the wings suddenly fall off your plane.

The same goes with firefighter. Fireman sounds like a guy who gets a cat out of the tree.

A firefighter is courageous and fierce and powerful – again, someone you want around if the wings fall off your plane.
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I am listening to: U2 - One
I am reading: 1776 (To be reading this in Boston? Incredible. Every corner is a landmark.)
And I am: Connected