Conversation |
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2 August 2024 - Zürich
Today I met a nice old lady on the train. She wanted to meet my dog Paula, and Paula was happy to oblige. We got to talking and she told me that she lived in Houston 50 years ago before her best friend stole her husband. Not the sort of conversation you usually get from a Swiss person the first time you meet! We shared details of our lives - pets, kids, divorces, and precautions one takes to avoid rattlesnake bites. It's the second conversation I've had about rattlesnakes this week. Not sure what I should take from that other than, living on a continent without much wild fauna left, people are interested in places that still have some. The lovely old lady today was going to get off the train at the station before mine, but changed her mind and rode with me to mine to continue our conversation. I'll never see her again, but she made my day. There was no purpose to our conversation; no goal. We just shared the trainride and something of ourselves with eachother. I find myself asking why. Why did we both leave train smiling? Why was that brief human connection of such value to us both?
