Unexpected Social Connections

Aren’t unexpected social connections great? Beth and I stopped for the night in Kansas City on our way to Minnesota for a family camping trip.  We decided on a local sports bar for a quick dinner after a day of driving.  At first, we thought the place was closed because there were only 2 people and a bartender in the entire restaurant.  For a moment we thought about going to a different restaurant across the street that looked much livelier.

We decided to stay and sit at the bar.  We like to sit at the bar and talk to the bartender and other people.  So, it was us, 2 other guests, and the bartender.  As we sat talking with the bartender, she mentioned her interest in mindfulness and meditation, so we talked for a few minutes about our interests in the same.  She took our order and then went to talk with the other 2 people about stand-up comics and ways to be direct and truthful with people in ways that weren’t offensive.  What a great and unexpected opportunity for a dialogue with people who may not share our beliefs, or even be aware of different philosophical thoughts.

So, we shared our favorite mindfulness and meditation teacher with the group.  We told them about Thich Nhat Hanh and even wrote his name on the receipt.  The bartender laughed and said, “I’m glad you wrote that down, I never would have known how to spell it!”  It was hard for me to add to their conversation on direct and honest speech.  We told everyone about the Ten Percent Happier podcast which has great lessons and guest speakers that talk about mindfulness and communication.

I had more thoughts, but I wasn’t prepared and couldn’t organize them into something I wanted to share.  Sometimes this happens but next time I will be ready!

The next time I have an opportunity to talk with others about direct and truthful speech, I will talk about being impeccable with our words and using compassionate speech.  I think being impeccable and compassionate with our words would allow for direct and honest communication without being offensive or hurtful to others.

What do you think?