Getting to know People

This past weekend we drove to Bald Head, planning to stay until Sunday. It turned out to be cold-ish and rainy, not all that fun after about five hours of reading, playing computer, and eating. We headed home on Saturday.

When we got to the marina on Friday afternoon, several of our friends were anchored across the marina. Most of them I knew, but there was one couple that I didn't know. Within five minutes, this is what I knew about the man:

1. He grew up in Greensboro, graduating from Grimsley High School.
2. We are the same age, and went to the same elementary school.
3. He grew up on the street that I first lived on as a baby.
4. His mother died last week. She had had a stroke which left her unable to move. All of her children were there when she died; she waited for the son from California to get there, then died within hours.
5. He had three brothers. They graduated from high school in Raleigh because his family moved after he graduated from high school.
7. He went to the University of Tennessee, lived there for twenty years, then moved to Southport in 1996.

Last night we went to see BB King at the new Durham Performing Arts Center. A beautiful building! There was a man I didn't know sitting beside me. Within five minutes, this is what I knew about him:

1. He grew up in Greensboro, graduated from high school in 1960.
2. He has lived Charlotte and Raleigh.
3. Now he lives in Durham and commutes to Raleigh. He likes this because he travels against the traffic both ways.
4. He is in the construction business.
5. At one point he owned George W. Kane Construction Company because he was hired to come in and help the company get back on its feet.
6. The woman he was with is his second wife, but he's still friendly with his first wife who lives in Greensboro.
7. He has no blood relatives in Greensboro.

I am amazed at how much you can learn about people if you just keep asking questions.