Tuesday, June 30, 2009

summer school.

I made a new friend at summer school today. well, to be precise, on the public bus. he's in my precalc class, but he took the same bus as I did.

he seemed a bit lonely at summer school.. so often I would see him and he would eat his lunch alone, or he wouldn't smile. a five hour school day would elapse without so much as a grin to crack his monotone look. except that third day of school; I saw a smile materialize on his face, and I decided that I would try my best to make that happen more. took a week though..

he's pretty cool.. albeit a bit reserved. I was surprised to find out that he lives near me and is 2nd chair in the alto sax section in his school's advanced band class.

haha, I'm so awkward and stalker-ish. I found out his name by waiting for Mr. Williams to call his name to collect his test.

though, it's strange. I found myself getting an adrenaline rush just thinking about trying to introduce myself on the bus. after someone left the seat beside him, it took me a good two or three minutes to gather the will to move to the back and sit next to him. then it took another five minutes for me to actually ask him if his name was Eric.

I dunno why, but my heart rate shot up when I tried to convince myself to talk to him. perhaps just the thought of initiating conversation with a complete stranger, or making a new friend, was shocking to me. I was scared that he would have ignored me or thought I was creepy.

fortunately, my fears were for naught as we launched into a conversation. I went from initiating a conversation by asking, "hey, is your name Eric?" to giving him my math test to check his test corrections with. his aspirations to go to Princeton surprised me, as well as his acceptance of my odd character.

hurray for new friends. I think it was worth the difficulty on my part to make a new friend, as well as to make someone smile. he's a senior; it can't be fun to be a senior and to be alone.

4 comments:

  1. Isn't it so amazing to meet random people? I guess part of that is, they don't expect anything out of you and you can just be yourself. Don't worry about being stalkerish, most people will appreciate conversation or at least company. Because, no, it's not fun to be alone. It's always worth it when you can make someone you don't even know smile. Maybe it gives people the feeling that someone cares enough to do at least a little more than just walk by and pretend not to notice them.

    Besides, I think it's one of the best things we can do for ourselves, even. Sometimes, I just go out and talk to homeless people.. just because. It's nice to know that there's another person you can bring a smile to by doing something as simple as waving to them or saying "hello." Or even listening to them. I feel kind of guilty saying this, but I feel closer to these random people that I meet than most of my friends/acquaintances. Maybe it's just the thought that they could have been another human being I could have cared less about. But they're not.

    Yay for new friends!

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  2. Haha. Anyway, random thoughts in cut off comment. Good for you on taking the initiative :).

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  3. it is nice to give back, especially after taking so much from other people.

    thank you for your thoughts. though, I am wondering, may I know who you are? =)

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  4. Hello :). How are you doing?

    Who am I? I am the powerful, the pleasurable, the indestructible Mushu! (Sorry, I had to. Lines from that movie have been stuck in my head since we watched it in class).

    But who am I.. I'll tell you when I find out ;).

    Don't worry though. I'm not a stalker.

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