So! It's really amazing how different every individual in this world is. It's even more amazing when you take the time to learn about each of them while learning more about yourself in the process.
One: There's this custodian named Jedel who walks past our table full of blue polo-ed volunteers at Liberty Science Center every day during lunch. We'd always laugh and snicker whenever he passed by because two of the girls jokingly called him a creep for randomly walking up to them one day and asking them their names. Turns out he's simply a very outgoing guy - very outgoing. Today, while walking by our lunch table again, he decided to stop. And started singing. Right there, with a table of ten volunteers as his shell-shocked audience. Dude...his voice was amazing. As in, American Idol finalist-worthy, record label album-worthy, next big radio hit-worthy. Who knew? (Everyone has a secret talent.)
Two: Theodore Alexander! So today I was working in I-Explore, an exhibit for 2-5 year olds. While picking up wheels from the floor, a little boy with huge round eyes and cute girly eyelashes and curly light brown hair came over. "Do you wanna build a car?" I asked. And thus began an hour's worth of playing with Theodore Alexander. We built cars and raced them, made a "cow park" (I have no clue what this is, he made it up) out of blocks, and made pretend food in plastic bowls. When it was time for me to leave, he dragged me over to a stone wall where there were paintbrushes and water for kids to "paint" with water. "I drew this for you," he said, and pointed at a picture of a lopsided heart on the wall. (Children are nicer than adults.)
Three: While in the Hudson Home exhibit, a 30 something year old lady asked me questions about Liberty Science Center and I gave her suggestions on what exhibits her children might like the most, based on their ages, and went on to have a whole conversation with her about volunteering. It wasn't until she thanked me and left that I realized...she was in a wheelchair. (There is nothing different about being different.)
Four: While waiting at the light-rail station for the train to Hoboken, a mother asked me how to buy tickets and which train she should take to go to Exchange Place. After helping out the family, I realized that the little boy was holding a Liberty Science Center gift bag and thus began a conversation with them about how they enjoyed their day, what their favorite exhibits were, etc. Then I asked where they were from...turns out they came all the way from the UK. Incidentally, I spent two weeks in the UK this summer and subsequently spent the rest of our time talking about my trip as we waited for the train to come. (It's a small world.)
Five: The man who sat next to me on the bus today reminded me a lot of my dad. He was asian, dressed like a professor, and carried a leather messenger bag. As soon as he sat down, he pulled a very important-looking hardcover book from his bag and began to read. Ever curious, I sneaked a peek at the page he was on and saw three, maybe four lines of actual text. The rest of the page was filled entirely with long, cluttered equations. The only symbol I could recognize was sigma. (Diligence is admirable.)
None of these people changed my life in any tangible manner, but each inspired me in his or her own way - unknowingly. Now think about it - if I alone could be affected by five people in a single day, surely I can affect at least one person in this world every day. One person a day for another 80 years is a lot of people...
Let's change the world.
