A successful conversation
So, earlier this week I was sitting on a bench at work on break, and somebody said hi. It was my dad's old boss, who I had talked to in passing a few times, but didn't know super well. I see him at Walmart maybe once every few months.
Anyhow, after a bit of small talk and catching up (he somehow knows about and inquired after my current career aspirations), he mentioned that we should go out to coffee or breakfast sometime. I agreed, with full knowledge that such a meeting would never actually happen. I mean, he's a busy and important man.
But then he asked, "so what day this week would work for you?" I suddenly realized that he was serious, and that he actually wanted to go out to coffee with me. I recovered from my shock quickly and offered some times that worked, and we settled on 4pm Friday.
Now, for the next couple of days, I was trying to figure out what we would talk about. It's not like we have that much in common. I tried to come up with some conversation starters, but didn't get more than one or two. Going into the conversation today, I wondered how long our conversation would last—half an hour, maybe?
We both showed up to Panera at about 3:50, and he offered to buy me coffee. Then we sat down at a corner table and just started talking. He told me about what he's been doing and his hobbies, and he asked about my work and school and job applications. And from there we talked about any and everything under the sun, and it was such a delightful time. When he looked at his watch almost three hours later and declared that he had to go, I was shocked at how much time had passed. It was such an enjoyable conversation that I had lost track of time.
Anyhow, just wanted to remember this conversation and hopefully I'll get a chance to sit down with coffee with this fellow again.