When I got it going this morning, the prompt was one thing, albeit a wee bit of deja vu in it. Since then, my noggin has been in overdrive down that path of prose. But alas, it to has changed. But what the heck. It did prompt me to offer something. So gird your loins.
I mentioned that it was sort of like a rerun, something to the effect of how you like to be active or participate in the community. I recall sharing something about my experience in youth sports, Boy Scouting, publicspeaking and the like here at home. But a pot or so of coffee and about 150 miles later, I arrived at this perspective. Whoa, that pun arrived right on schedule. Like it was in Maps.
Community goes far beyond where one lives. It is situated all over. Where, how and what we are meant to be when we just simply live. We are all different in some fashion. That is just the way it is. But in reality, we are all the same. The mold is essentially identical. From a Master drawing perspective, it is still rev. 1. Has been for, what, thousands of years? The only difference is how we come out of the finishing department. Exteriors aside, we all have the same engine, frame and suspension systems.
So you can be traveling on business, to say Pekin, Illinois and your rev. 1 model will then become a part of their local inventory. How you go about embracing them and their way of life in the Land of Lincoln even if for only that one overnight stay casts impressions that may extend far beyond your time there. Both on them and on you. What you do as a foreigner in that foreign land of Cardinal fans can be defining in many ways.
Say you check into the Holday Inn there on Kelly Ave. and no know strangers, they will likely respond in kind. In a few minutes of shootin’ the feces, you can become one of them. Like a Bears fan in Wisconsin, meeting a Cubs fan there will stoke a great rivalry conversation. Steer clear of 1969.
Smile and share puns and open doors. Say “thank you” for their help and dropping their guard. Make friends. Maybe they have kids graduating or getting married too. Perhaps they just lost a parent or a sibling. Could be that this is there side gig during retirement or their first job out of high school. And should the tunes in the background elicit a response or sing along, share the concert you went to growing up. Your favorite kind of music. Or how you love to listen to Led Zepplin at “11” on I55 with the windows down.
For some strange reason, we forget that we are all one. As one. The only difference is a zip code. Don’t matter where, how or what.
Just be active in them.
Wherever.
...my temporary assignment. 