So I'm feeling a bit old today, but the funny thing, I feel great about it. Yesterday, we celebrated my son's third birthday. I realize that may not impact you as much as it did me, but our time with him is moving SO FAST.
On a thematically similar note, I had an interesting conversation with a girl (24 years old) in Panera Bread this morning. This girl took a seat next to me and was reading a book entitled Listening to Oliva: Violence, Poverty and Prostitution. Needless to say, I had to ask. Anyway, we started talking. She's a law student in her third year and is about to sit for the bar in July. Blah, blah, blah. She's living with her boyfriend, but can't tell her parents because her super conversative Catholic dad would not approve. The conversation meanders into different territory, and before you know it, it's time for me to move on. So I stand up to refill my coffee and prepare to leave. And that's when it hits me.
I find myself walking back over to this girl and without any invitation on her end, I ask her if I might share a thought or two. She gladly obliges me with no clue as to what is coming next. And that's when I tell her that much like her father, I too wouldn't necessarily condone living together prior to marriage. But rather than talking about that, I wanted to suggest to her that her parents, no matter how much they disapprove of her choice, would always choose to know what is going on in their child's life as opposed to feeling lied to when the truth inevitably surfaces. I'm 33 years old and I'm talking to this girl like I'm some 70-year old sage. And the weird thing is, it really worked. She totally opened up about the stress that all the lying to her parents is causing her and she seemed genuinely appreciative of the fact that I was talking to her about it. In fact, she went on to say that apart from her boyfriend and his parents, no one but the Chaplin of DePaul (who approves by the way) knew of her secret; and she was at a genuine loss for someone to turn to for guidance.
How weird is that? You sit down to have a nice cup of coffee over a sports page that is proudly reporting on the Cubs' current 8 out 9 game winning streak, and you end up "parenting" this 24 year old law student. And the really weird thing is, it didn't make me feel old or outdated. If anything, it was almost as if I finally felt old enough to actually speak something wise into someone else's life.
On a thematically similar note, I had an interesting conversation with a girl (24 years old) in Panera Bread this morning. This girl took a seat next to me and was reading a book entitled Listening to Oliva: Violence, Poverty and Prostitution. Needless to say, I had to ask. Anyway, we started talking. She's a law student in her third year and is about to sit for the bar in July. Blah, blah, blah. She's living with her boyfriend, but can't tell her parents because her super conversative Catholic dad would not approve. The conversation meanders into different territory, and before you know it, it's time for me to move on. So I stand up to refill my coffee and prepare to leave. And that's when it hits me.
I find myself walking back over to this girl and without any invitation on her end, I ask her if I might share a thought or two. She gladly obliges me with no clue as to what is coming next. And that's when I tell her that much like her father, I too wouldn't necessarily condone living together prior to marriage. But rather than talking about that, I wanted to suggest to her that her parents, no matter how much they disapprove of her choice, would always choose to know what is going on in their child's life as opposed to feeling lied to when the truth inevitably surfaces. I'm 33 years old and I'm talking to this girl like I'm some 70-year old sage. And the weird thing is, it really worked. She totally opened up about the stress that all the lying to her parents is causing her and she seemed genuinely appreciative of the fact that I was talking to her about it. In fact, she went on to say that apart from her boyfriend and his parents, no one but the Chaplin of DePaul (who approves by the way) knew of her secret; and she was at a genuine loss for someone to turn to for guidance.
How weird is that? You sit down to have a nice cup of coffee over a sports page that is proudly reporting on the Cubs' current 8 out 9 game winning streak, and you end up "parenting" this 24 year old law student. And the really weird thing is, it didn't make me feel old or outdated. If anything, it was almost as if I finally felt old enough to actually speak something wise into someone else's life.
posted by Just a Few Things about Scott ... | 9:42 PM
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