Motorcycle Maintenance and the Art of Conversation

Yesterday I met a lovely middle-aged man—we’ll call him MM—who was on a grand adventure with his middle-aged motorcycle buddies from Oklahoma down south to the ocean. I was a little peeved at MM when they first roared onto the ferry on account of him parking his bike WAY too close to me, thus invading my personal space. I decided to ignore them but then MM chose to strike up a conversation about the headlight on my bicycle. He ended up being funny and charming and was one of the rare conversationalists who asks you a question after answering yours.

One thing I’ve discovered talking to random strangers on the boat is that most anyone is overjoyed to tell you their story: what they’re up to on any given day, where they’re from, what body parts ache when it rains, etc. but very very rarely do I come across a person who seems genuinely interested in anything other than talking about themselves. And don’t get me started on people who glance at their phones every twenty seconds waiting for someone more interesting than you to communicate with them (sometimes I’m guilty, too). But MM wasn’t one of these one-sided talkers, and over the course of our 10 minute ride he asked about my work, and I told him where to camp on the Florida Gulf Coast and how to get to the Florabama (I hope he made it!).

In honor of MM and his motorcycle gang, I dare you to have a real conversation with at least 3 people today…it doesn’t have to be a long conversation, just an authentic one. Report the results of your experiment in the comments below, if you are so inclined.