"Tell me a story"

At the ripe age of 26 I secured a job as a housemother in a sorority house. While the other mom's on the street were sporting platinum hair and floral muumuus, I was regularly confused as "one of the girls." The thing is, I wasn't one of them. I was an outsider. The authority figure. Being the outsider inside a sorority house taught me some very valuable skills, listening and storytelling. When I actually stop and listen to what people are saying and how they are saying it, it floors me! After watching what these girls did on a daily basis, I also decided it would be wise block out my actual college years!

Cut to a year and a half later and I've left my cushy life as a house mom to settle in beautiful Okoboji, IA. No longer do I have 50 girls surrounding me, a cook to prepare my favorite foods and a housekeeper to dust and vacuum. I'm on my own living like a typical 20 something year old. I eat out for almost every meal and my mom and dad stop by a few times a month to pick up and do dishes. When I'm not supervising them, I'm usually out with friends.

In a recent outing to one of my favorite local establishments I was perched at the bar enjoying a delightful beverage when a young man sat down next to me and introduced himself as Travis. I glanced at his jacket to confirm that the name prominently embroidered was indeed, Travis. He might as well have a sticker that said, "Hi, My Name is: Boring" because that is who I was going to meet! The conversation was quickly going downhill but I am now a skilled listener, so I tried to give him a chance. He proceeds to tell me he has a job but it's boring. He never goes out so his boss drug him out for the night. He just works or sits in his apartment normally.

How is ANYONE supposed to respond to that? I blinked. Took a breath and said, "Oh, that's a nice boss." Then I took a drink and sat in silence staring at my drink. After it was clear he wasn't going to walk away I looked at him and asked him to tell me a story, any story. He could even make one up!

He proceeded to tell me he's not very creative. At that point I wanted to say, "CLEARLY!" But I didn't. I just raised my eyebrows to let him know I was waiting. He told me a story about the one time he crashed his snowmobile. I listened carefully, but it was the most boring story I've ever heard in my life. I've heard more exciting stories about crayons from a 4 year old! I was bored, and Travis was not a storyteller so I decided to call it a night. I gave one of my friends "the look" and she swooped in to say it was time to go. I turned to Travis with a look of disappointment and lied about how nice it was to meet him but now I must leave. I just left him standing alone at the bar so I could move on to something that more closely resembled an adventure!