Thursday Random Rambles : Interesting People

I was lured into Facebook, to help friends play Farmville.  Remember that pain in the ass game that had no end, no way to win?  One of the few good things about FB has been connecting with a few people from decades ago.  A few of them I have unfollowed or unfriended for their hate, but many I get updates from.  

Recently someone I went to high school with, messaged my on FB that she was here in town for "sightseeing and protesting" and asked if I wanted to meet for coffee.  She was staying in the hotel literally above a subway station a couple of blocks from my office (I exited through the station that morning.)   We met at the french bakery next to my office. It was fun.  She is a school psychologist, and has had a good life.  She said growing up her mother was a registered nurse for a local doctor.  Before Roe, her mother would drive patients to New York and stay with them for treatment.  She said, sadly "I may need to follow in her footsteps."  

I am mentoring a bright college student doing an independent research project this summer.  He is doing really great work.  He is from Chicago and went home for the summer, then his parents sold the house and moved, moving him to an apartment in DC, his parents and his dog to a slightly smaller house in Chicago.  I took him to lunch the other day, it was the only time we have met face to face.  We got on the subject of voting, and he said when he went to vote in the recent primary his "dead name" was on the registration list, along with his name.  He said "I am trans." I hope I responded appropriately, I said, "thank you for sharing, and if you hadn't mentioned it I never would have known." Thinking about it, isn't that the way it should be, no one noticed.  He is thin, and kind of shy, just inching past the teenage years. And I see a lot of young students like that.  He is the face of the future.  If I had been brave at that age, as I was a decade later, I could have saved a decade of ugly.  People just want to be who they are. 

This leads me to a commentary on virtual vs. in-person communication.  The level of comfort that brings that level of disclosure, is so much easier face to face when we are reading all of the channels of communication.  I am finding this to be true with the staff members who joined us during remote work.  Being able to spend some time in the same room has lead to greater disclosure, deeper understanding.  

Speaking of post-covid.  I had my first haircut in 30 months last weekend.  My hair, well what is left of it, hung down to my shoulders.  I kept it tied up in a top knot most of the time.  It had never been that long.  Honestly it looked gastly.  I wouldn't have minded aging eccentric look, but it looked more like an unmedicated mad scientist.  

People are interesting, and complex.