by Nick Miller of Clarity Advantage
In which we discover that starting conversations with strangers is easy if we can find common interests.
With the melody, “Rock My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham,” and the rhythmic clapping of a fully aroused, Boston opening night audience still ringing in my ears, I stood at the end of Row Q, waiting my turn to step into the aisle and leave the theater.
In the aisle, waiting his turn to move past me, stood an older man, perhaps in his early ’80s. In his prime, he would have been a little taller than me. Solidly built. I imagine he was probably quite athletic and terribly good looking. Now he was an older man in a wrinkled tan rain coat and blue blazer, his head bowed forward, slightly, almost resting, waiting patiently for a throng of dance patrons to move up the aisle.
“Are you uplifted?” I asked, looking at him.
He turned his face toward me, looking at me silently for a moment, as if gauging the source and the purpose of the question. I smiled at him, gently.
“Yes,” he said, with a thin smile. “I am…. I saw it Tuesday night, I’ve seen it tonight, and I’ll see it Saturday night.”