What a 10 to 15 minute conversation with a stranger can do to you

Yesterday I had an impromptu encounter with a woman in an elevator, that extended to the hotel parking lot.

I was checking in, bringing my bags into the room. Being right before 9pm, and not having dinner on my flight, I stepped back out into the hall way to make my way out in my rental car to find something to eat.

As the door to my room closed, I look towards the elevator a few doors away and I see a woman with a luggage cart loaded with luggage, bags, and other small items. We shared eye contact and a smile with one another as I approached the elevator door which was just opening. She struggled for a moment to get the luggage cart on the small elevator, so I offered to guide it in since my hands were free. She said thanks with the same smile but jostled it inside and moved it a little for me to share the ride.

She asked if I was checking in, and I said yes. Seeing all of her luggage in her cart, I asked how long was her stay and was it good. She said it was 2 weeks while some repairs were being made to her home, and it could have been a little better because the neighborhood wasn’t so great. A few more niceties and we arrived to the ground floor, where I got out and helped steer her cart off the elevator.

The small talk continued as we both headed towards the lobby, and it was easy conversation.

I offered to hold the door for her to the parking lot, but the doors are auto-opening. I joked about the building doing my work for me at this point and she laughed.

We were still talking when we stopped outside the lobby doors and continued to talk for quite a while. We just struck a chord with one another, likely because we had similar ages (although she was likely barely 40 and I’m almost 15 years older). With similar experiences, the conversation was honest. It felt like we were getting to know one another like the first moments of a blind date. But without the awkwardness that comes with those first moments of a first date. We used our brains, eye contact, and humor to put the other at ease.

We stood there for a while and talked about real estate, the economy, origins and the possibilities of returning to them- where we were born and raised. And other adult things. Neither one of us looked at our phones or the time.

“By the way, I’m Cheryl.”
“Very nice to meet you, Cheryl. I’m Jason”

We shook hands then.

“Have a great night, and drive safe”
“Good luck with your house search”
“Congratulations on your home repairs”

We shared smiles again, and that was it.
She went to her car to load out, and I went to my rental car to go find a last minute bite to eat.

Now I wouldn’t say this post today, more than a full day later, is something I would normally do or share. But while driving down the road not even half a mile later to get my dinner I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face.

I’m no Don Juan. Was it flirtatious on both of our parts? Probably. The smiles towards one another weren’t forced, but genuine. If she didn’t want to engage, she didn’t have to. Or she could keep it to just small talk and end it. I’d respect that.

But it didn’t need to go any further than that. The kindness of this person to just engage with another person resonated with me. Still did today. It was a connection, for even but a moment in our lives. Nothing will come of it. It will likely be forgotten in short order as our lives continue. Amidst all of the strife in the world towards one another, it felt good to have such a simple interaction. It’s an affirmation to me that not all is so bad in the world. There are times it feels like all there is around us is negativity.

To have such an interaction in a hotel elevator, lobby, and parking lot, was happenstance. It could have happened anywhere.

When I returned to the hotel, she was gone.

Having an interaction like that just feeds your soul a little bit, making you think….its not all bad out there. There are good people. And if you are a good person, it’s joyous when you can share something like that with another good person.

Even if it’s but a moment in time.

Thank you Cheryl.
Jason