I apologize that this is going to be a bit of a lecture but it is my website…. I promise that I have some excellent new poems coming very soon.

I was stopped the other day by an elderly gentleman when purchasing espresso beans for the office. I’ve had the hardest time finding these beans lately so naturally I started loading up the cart. The elderly man approached me and mentioned that the price must be good for me to be buying so many packages. Tongue in cheek, I explained my dilemna. The man proceeded to engage me in conversation for the next 10 minutes. I was amazed that this “old school” gentleman had a talent that seems to be completely lost on young people today.

At one of our recent family functions I observed that a number of the 16 – 20 year olds who attended sat at their respective tables and made virtually no effort to engage the other 16-20 year olds at the party. I recalled in the good old days being naturally drawn to people my own age and basically spending the entire function with people in my age group. Disappointingly that no longer appears to be the case. When you strip these kids of their blackberries, their facebook accounts, etc there doesn’t appear to be any desire or interest on their part of engaging people face to face.

I have always aspired to be like my Dad who is a master (inspite of a limited formal education) of talking to anyone. I think it is a complete travesty that the art of striking an engaging conversation with a stranger is fading. What a horrible shame.

Peace

Paul