Conversation

Okay, I am up. That is not as trite as it sounds. Last night I stayed up late, very late, late enough to say I went to bed today, not last night. It was just after 4:00 AM when my head hit the pillow. I woke up to pee at 8:30 this morning and promptly went back to sleep until 11:00 AM. Checkout here at the hotel is noon; I might not make it.

Last night I got to talking with the fellow who owns the hotel and bar here. He was shutting down at 12:30 last night while I was still watching the BC Lions game in the bar. There was a wedding in the hotel and it was going late; lots of noise, music pounding. The hotel had warned me that this might be a problem since my rooms is right beside the main banquet room. It is a special handicapped accessible room on the main floor of the hotel, very well laid out and brand new. When they told me about the wedding party, I figured I would just watch the game in the bar until either one or the other ended.

When the owner came in, I mentioned that the party was still going strong. He said, "No worries. Let me buy you a beer." If you know me at all, you know that was a clarion call to action. Beer was to be had and I was to have it. He sat with me and we watched the last of the game. Then we got to talking.

We talked about Campbellton, the town were I am right now. We talked about business, about being an entrepreneur and how the skills of building a business are not necessarily the skills of running a business. We talked about children, his and mine, about family, his and mine, about life. It surprises me the things people will tell me, how much they open up in conversation with me. I wonder if they talk like this, so openly and frankly, to other people. I wonder if they talk to me like this because I am a stranger, without grounds for judgement or opinion of them.

It doesn't really matter that much. People talk to me, most probably because I talk to them. One thing leads to another in conversation; the next thing you know it's 4:00 AM. It's going to be a late start to my day, after a late finish last night. It will be another thing to talk about with someone else.