Good with Service People

I'm constantly amazed at how easy it is to get to know people. To get behind their shields and have real conversations with people. Case in point, I just finished having a conversation with a guy at a place down the street. He's a 49 year old pensioner living in Bangkok, Thailand. I walked away with his name, U.S. and Thai contact numbers and we talked for over 2 hours.

I remember distinctly being on one of those drunk cruises in Cabo San Lucas and while my erstwhile partner in crime spent his time trying to get somewhere with two young women on the boat, I was in the back talking to an elderly couple on vacation from Colorado. We left the boat and while he had a case of blue balls, I had an invitation to stay anytime with them at their house in Colorado Springs, some phone numbers and a lasting impression that while my friend was a jackass, I reminded them of the way the wish their son could be.

Some of my friends came to saying something of the sort of, "Oh, Scott, he's good with service people." Really, it's just that I treat them like people; I ask about them, their families and how they are doing in their lives. It's amazing how far a simple act like this can get you. I've received everything from free food and drink to invitations to stay with them on vacation.

Now, I don't want to be disengenuous about this. I'm actually very interested and involved in the conversations that I have. I don't enter into anything with any ulterior motive beyond general curiosity. I love meeting new people and finding out about them and their experiences. It's the sense of the new and novel that compels me. But I find that in general the more open that you are, the more open they will be. I've learned so much about the world and about other cultures just from being open to spirited conversation from Taxis that it's crazy. Although I've forgotten most of it, I've learned phrases in Uzbekh, Armenian and Pakistani from cab drivers. I used to take phonetic notes on the back of business cards and napkins.

It seems to me that the world would be much better off if people were more open and understanding to these kind of interactions.

Of course, the bonus is that I get a lot of free shit, so that's not all that bad either, is it?