· I was on a flight to NC recently and I had two flights. On the first flight, I found my seat and the lady next to me stood up and let me into my seat. When she stood up, she said “Is this your seat” —she was being polite, so I said, “you must be my seat buddy”. She chuckled, then we sat down. I could tell she didn’t want to talk during the flight. Of course, wearing masks didn’t help. I could probably have pushed for more conversation, but once we took off, I pulled out my laptop and worked on some photos for a funeral program I was working on. I don’t fly a lot, but I would say, most strangers don’t talk on a flight. How about you? Do you like to talk?
· The second leg of my flying was a totally different experience. I had pretty much the same scenario, a young lady stood up to let me to my seat. I love sitting by the window. But just after I sat down, I noticed she had a Notre Dame backpack on the floor at her feet. Of course, I made a comment about her school since my favorite college program, Clemson, had beaten her team a few years earlier in the College Football playoff. Come to find out, she was at the same game. I was a fan at the game, and she was in the Notre Dame band across the stadium. Even if I hadn’t brought that up, I am sure the same result would have happened. We would have talked the whole flight. And we did. I was blown away; I couldn’t believe how pleasant it was to have a conversation. Yes, we were still wearing masks.
· We left the flight and said our “Safe travels” comments and we moved on.
· It took me a while to get over the fact of how impactful that conversation was on me.
· Human nature needs people. We need to connect. We need to engage one another.
· I feel this is a situation that Covid has had a big impact on in the past years, but I feel there are a lot of other factors that affect communication. Texting, chat, etc.—but it’s nowhere the same.
· I find this goes back to my previous podcast about community. We need people in our lives, we need to take interest in others and in turn, they take interest in you.
· I feel that I have been painting furniture for the past 6 years because I think it’s a conversation starter. In a way, I am sharing my work and you are sharing yours—which creates a conversation. We don’t even have to have anything in common, but we can talk about creativity, products, family, customers, and so much more
· But there must be communication. We can’t live in our own little worlds.
· It’s not that I don’t talk to family and friends, but there is something about new conversations, and getting to know others in your community.
· When you are standing in a long line, do you put your eyes to your phone and escape? Do you strike up a conversation with the person near you?
· Have we lost the ability to talk to one another?
· I find people are so easy to communicate on a platform like social media or texting but in many cases—not effectively. That put conversations public that are best kept to themselves. Maybe it’s to criticize, complain, or compliment—it’s all done.
· We don’t keep others in mind, how will our words be interpreted, and how will they impact the recipient.
· Maybe I am at that point where I don’t understand how we should be communicating anymore.
· Have we forgotten about how words mean things?
· Maybe I’ll have a podcast conversation about your brand someday. What you say defines you and your brand.
· Let this all be a challenge to use… find opportunities to have a conversation.
