If you have ever met my dad, then you know he is a genuinely charismatic man. Jovial in a fat-free way. Congenial. Chatty.
My dad will be driving his bubbly 1949 Ford down the street in Libertyville, Illinois and with one choppy little salute out the window, ten neighbors are calling his name. He's a marathon runner with tons of energy. He also works in New York so I have hung out with him in Manhattan a number of times. He knows a lot of the locals...bodega managers, deli workers, bartenders, hotel clerks. Each time I go anywhere with my dad - and this is true even when I was a child - he talks to people.
Standing on an escalator at the airport he'll comment about how heavy someone's luggage looks. Waiting for an elevator, he'll ask if he can have a sip of someone's starbucks and chuckle. Going through the line at the grocery store and he's already telling somebody all about his kids in college....and oh! This is Kimmie....she's a first grade teacher, yeah...(laughs)...those little rugrats. It's amazing how complete strangers smile and joke with my dad - especially in the middle of the biggest city in the world.
Years ago, I used to roll my eyes and step back a few feet. Or I might have tugged on his sleeve....daaaaaad. Later on, I could settle down, knowing I was in it for the long haul. All of my siblings do this.
And then.....one day, all alone in NYC, I found myself making eye contact with some woman at H&M....wanting desperately to ask her opinion on a purse. Then I'm walking down the street on Rosh Hashana and I can feel myself ready to say 'Happy New Year!' to total strangers. Or even just waiting in line at the bagel place - I just want to turn to the person next to me and chuckle, 'Ha....bagels. They are so good!'. I have very few inhibitions about joking with old ladies behind the counter at the post office or telling the heavy lidded hipster behind the counter at the coffee shop that I've been 'locked out again! can you believe it?'
It's insane.
awwww.
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