When I was a teenager I heard people talk about the weather-especially grownups. I was interested in exchanging knowledge and this seemed to me pointless. When it was raining, like duh all could see it was raining and all experienced how hard or soft the rain fell. When the sun was shining, duh, the sun beat down mercilessly on us all. Pointless.

Of course, I was one of those who answered, How are you doing? truthfully. To me all those who scurried away from me after I told them what I was into, was another example of people who had no desire to obtain knowledge.

Back then relationships held little meaning. Weren’t we here to acquire knowledge and he who had the most would come away with the spoils, isn’t that right? Problem is when we all get educated and go to college, we are all on the same playing field. Kinda hard to tell who is better, just on the basis of knowledge.

Take two people who greet each other. One likes birds, the other likes plants and gardens. One likes parrots, the other likes to bike. One loves dogs, but the other loves cats. Yet there is something within these two people that attracts each other. Maybe they are both raising a family, maybe they belong to the same garden club, or maybe they sense a caring person in the other.

So what do they do? After greeting each other they seek to find something to continue the conversation. What they stumble upon is the weather. The sun and wind or clouds and rain this they both experience. This they can talk about. The rain or lack of it would affect one’s garden while it might affect the amount of biking the other could do. They have settled upon common ground and it feels good.

Whether they continue the conversation or not doesn’t matter, but what does is that they have found something they can talk about to build upon. Who knows in the future they may actually develop a relationship which may turn into a friendship. But it has to start somewhere and yes relationships and caring is where it’s at.

The younger generation has developed a disturbing greeting of “Hey”. The other person replies with “Hey” and they go on their merry way. Perhaps it is their way of getting real–of saying why should I say “How are you?” if I don’t really mean it or don’t want to hear it? But how do you build a relationship on “Hey”. At least some of us will answer “What?” and wait for the other to either tell us something or ask a question. There is some meaning in that. But just to chase one down with a “Hey” is really pointless toward building relationships and that begins another story…