11. Christian: everyone's story is worth listening to

I can be intolerant. I get a little spun up in my own world sometimes. Christian, on the other hand, is one of the most generous-of-spirit people I have ever met. It has gotten him into trouble over the years, but I hope he never changes this about himself.

The day he was moving to Florida, his brother and I took a cab with him to Penn Station. Tim was telling a story, and the cab driver began chiming in with his own stories - about his home country, and his daughter, and who knows what-all (see? intolerant).

In the just-under-a-year that Christian had lived in New York (this time), he became one of my closest friends. We were both working non-traditional hours over the summer and early fall, so we had tons of time to hang out and wander the streets, talking about life and everything in it.  I grew quite attached to him, so when he was leaving, I was sad and anxious and basically, acting like a bad version of myself.  Enter the cabby's stories.  With something like 30 minutes before Christian's train departed, I didn't want to listen to the cabby.  And I said so.  With a tilt of the head and a roll of the eyes, I drop "I don't want to listen to this guy's stories" into Christian's lap.  With a tilt of the head back in my direction and a widening of the eyes, he responds softly but emphatically "I do. This guy's stories are cool."  The next thing I dropped was my eyes.  In shame.  I don't even know if this guy's stories were cool; Christian's point was to not dismiss him.

I think it's really easy to get spun up in our own worlds, and quickly dismiss those who are on the exterior.  In deciding what's important and worth our time, we easily marginalize others.  But what right do I have to marginalize anyone?  That look on Christian's face, which I won't soon forget, will continue to remind me that indeed, everyone's story is worth listening to.

disclaimer:  I recognize the grammar issue (mom) and went with it anyway.