Saturday, April 28, 2012

You, Yes You


Please bear with me; I will get to the point of how this post is, in fact, a Y post.  It’s just going to take me some time to make the connection.  I think that’s alright since Y is the next to the last letter in the alphabet.

We live in such a fast-paced world that sometimes it seems like it’s really hard to get to know someone new, especially if, like me, you don’t always excel in casual conversation with people you barely know.  It’s always hard for me at first on new jobs or in new places to get to know people.  The thought of trying to talk to strangers filled me with terror when I started my first “real” job after I finished school.  Then I got my lucky break; my now-friend Traci invited me to lunch.  She said she realized that even though I’d been there for months she barely knew me. 

We went to lunch and discovered we had a lot in common and shared quite a few interests.  We soon developed a friendship that extended beyond work.  That was almost eight years ago.  We have both since moved on to other jobs, in fact it has been almost five years since we’ve worked together.  We now live in different states, and our lives have taken different paths, but we’re still friends, we still keep in touch.  All because eight years ago Traci decided to get to know someone new.

I learned a lot from that.  I now firmly believe that the best way to get to know someone new is to have a meal with them.  (I think this may be the reason why most dates involve dinner.)  Maybe people are more comfortable over a meal; after all we all have to eat to live.  Sharing a meal seems to be a way to get people to open up, to find out what they like or they don’t like, how they treat the server if you go to a restaurant.   I really do think it’s the best get to know you tool available.

Obviously all of us here in Blogger Land can’t just schedule a lunch together, so I thought I’d come up with five questions about you that I hope you’ll answer in the comments.  Why five, you may ask; because I like the number five.  Six of you were kind enough to answer yesterday’s question about what  makes a post x-rated for you, so I’m hoping at least a few people will play along.  I will answer them too.  Also, feel free to leave an extra question in the comments for others to answer, if you’d like.

1. What is your favorite dessert? 
     Crème Brule

2.  What is your favorite color?
      It’s a tie between blue and green.  They work well together, so I don’t usually have to choose.

3.  Do you prefer the mountains or the ocean?
     The ocean!  I need the sun, salt, and sand.

4.  Who is your favorite poet?
      Emily Dickinson

5.  Do you, or did you ever, have braces?
     Yes, braces for four years and headgear for two.  

14 comments:

  1. Nice post :)

    1. Difficult to choose just one! Maybe treacle tart.

    2. Green (at the moment - I'm very indecisive).

    3. Ocean. I live in central England and don't often get to see the ocean. When I was at university (on the south-west coast) I loved being so close to the water. Ideally I'll settle somewhere coastal.

    4. I don't really read poetry for pleasure (maybe it's a habit I'll grow into) so I'm probably not qualified enough to have a favourite poet yet. I liked Wilfred Owen's 'Dulce et decorum est' at school though: that struck a chord.

    5. Yep. Between the ages of about 11 and 14. And I had the headgear too. My dad tried to persuade me I looked like a popstar with a head microphone (there's probably a more technical name for it).

    Extra question if you want to answer: What film will you never get tired of watching?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks!

      So what is treacle tart? I don't think I've ever heard of that one.

      It's hard to pick one movie! Pretty much anything with Cary Grant comes to mind; I guess Bringing Up Baby.

      Delete
    2. Treacle tart is yumminess in the form of pastry, golden syrup and breadcrumbs. Ok, it doesn't sound very yummy but it is!

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/treacletart_67656 if you want to try making it :)

      Delete
  2. Fun.....
    1. lemon meringue pie (pumpkin for a second choice)
    2. green .. that nice boggy swampy green .. organic you know?
    3. I have never seen either so either one would be lovely to see for the first time.
    4. Robert Frost
    5. nope...thank goodness

    question: are you going to take a little blogging vacation after the a to z challenge is all over?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think pumpkin pie might be my second choice too.

      I'm not sure about a little blogging vacation. I like idea of posting every day, I'm just not sure about the practicality of coming up with something new every day for more than a month. I'm sort of tossing around schedule ideas now. How about you?

      Delete
    2. When the challenge isn't on I have been known to post up to four times in a day and I have been known to miss a day with no apology. Schedules are for work, blogging is for fun.

      Delete
  3. 1. Creme brûlée with real vanilla bean
    2. To wear, I like charcoal grey, I love blue and green as well. I guess I like all color. I hate making decisions!
    3. Beach but I have never been to the mountains. I prefer warm so let's stick with beach.
    4. Edgar Allen Poe
    5. No

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1. Vanilla, plain vanilla ice cream:-)
    2. Right off my mind, Purple! I love navy and gray as well!
    3. Mountains, lush grass with streams of clear water.
    4. John Keats
    5. No - I am blessed with naturally perfect alignment of teeth - to compensate, God gave me super slick oily skin that looked like a pizza crust all my teen years.

    My random, and most favorite question to ask - What makes you happy?

    Thanks for trotting by my blog and leaving your footprints - from Doodlingwords.blogspot.com, A-Z challenge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a major question! Of course people commenting on my blog posts. :-) Spending time with my family and friends; I love to have a big group of people over to make dinner for, my pets, saving a lot of money at the grocery store (I know that's weird, but I coupon and get really happy when my total goes way down, going to the beach.

      Delete
  5. My favorite dessert is chocolate anything.
    Favorite color is red
    Ocean, ocean, ocean - the sound, the smell, everything about it.
    Poet - Robert Frost or William Wordsworth
    Braces - no, but certainly need them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Key lime pie is a favorite dessert (although your mention of creme brule makes me want a piece of that).
    Favorite Color - blue.
    Ocean - so much I moved to California.
    Poet - Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson (hard to choose just one).
    Braces - yes around 12-13 and a clear plastic retainer to wear after they were removed. What a process!

    I like the theme of your post! Your story about the long lasting friendship that developed with your co-worker is encouraging.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dessert-Pecan Pie
    Color-Green
    Ocean
    Poet-???
    Braces-no

    ReplyDelete
  8. dessert: tiramisu or chocolate bread pudding
    color: green
    definitely ocean (california girl through and through!)
    no favorite poet--not really into poetry.
    yes on the braces!

    Also, aside from sharing a meal, realizing that you have something in common even something small is also another way to kick off a friendship. A road trip is another way to get to know someone!

    ReplyDelete

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