Can you tell us about an unexpectedly involving conversation you got into?

I got into a heated evolution/intelligent design debate that lasted two hours, at a used bookstore. Kid just came in and bought the entire religion section, and then tried to invite me to his youth group when I asked him about a certain book, and whether he was sure he wanted it. I left utterly amazed that an otherwise well-spoken, reasonably educated person can actually believe the world is 6,000 years old, for no reason other than “my pastor says…”

I’m still mad that kid got that copy of Misquoting Jesus and I didn’t. I really wanted that book, and he is not going to appreciate it.

I do believe it is mentally healthy to get into these deep conversations. I don’t often as it appears people I meet randomly are too dense to do that.

My sister and I spent a while this morning on the phone discussing how John Adams took his thirteen-year-old, John Quincy, and his nine-year-old, Charles, to Paris with him. He had them tutored in French and then sent them to French boarding schools for a while. When he (John Sr.) was sent to Amsterdam by the Colonial Congress, he put them into a school where everything was taught in Latin.

When the US sent its first envoy (Francis Dana) to Russia to persuade Catherine the Great to acknowledge the Independence of the American colonies, he needed a secretary and translator. Well, John Quincy at 14 was fluent in French (the lingua franca of the Russian upper classes) and accustomed to keeping a daily journal, so he was chosen. And off he went to St. Petersburg for two years.

Charles got homesick, didn’t like being beaten by Dutch educators and finally was allowed to return home to his mother, the redoubtable Abigail Adams. The crossing from France to MA. in a frigate in the N. Atlantic in 1782 was not for the faint-hearted.

When I stopped by a neighborhood liquor store to pick up some whiskey, I walked into a heated discussion between two employees who were both familiar enough with me to draw me into it. It was many months ago, before the Newtown shootings, but the discussion was all about guns, gun control, and fear-based living. One of the guys was a philosophy major working there part-time, a hunter who supported reasonable controls and rejected living in fear. The other was a home-town boy who thought Arizona was a shining example of America, and that everyone should carry a concealed weapon. We spent at least a half hour in spirited debate, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Happens with me ALL the time, everything from random encounters to calling on services I need, customer service inquiries, on & on.
Most recently I have been corresponding with a great customer service rep, for a defective appliance I purchased. I love this guy. ( in a general, “you are fun and lively person, with a great sense of humor, way. )
I also just sold about $400 worth of plants to a lady and her daughter the other day and we had SO MUCH FUN, carrying on about all sorts of stuff.

She originally came with her gardener and they were purchasing some large bamboos and other big ornamental plants I had for their pubs patio in a neighboring community.
She returned later that day to collect the rest of her green treasures from me and brought her 30 something daughter, OMG!
This woman was so funny and witty and the lady said…. ” I told my daughter you are just going to LOVE this woman!”( me)
It was a blast as it is rare for me to encounter really fun, funny and witty people.
We played off each other impeccably and I told her we ought to do some improve together. haha.

Nothing turns me on, mentally speaking, than super sharp and witty types that can catch my ball and run with it.
I’m always tossing it out there, no doubt! lol

Last week a random student at my school asked me where I was from. When I said San Francisco, he almost immediately wanted to know my opinion on the suicide rate in my city and how much the golden gate bridge contributed to it.

It was a deep conversation, but it was really depressing.. especially since I don’t think of the bridge as something so negative..