when silence is the next best thing to bliss
I had a conversation with my little niece earlier today. She called to wish her lonely aunt a happy Valentine's Day and to gush about how much candy she'd received. I smiled and listened, all the while stuffing my own face with chocolatey caramel goodness. I asked her if she had a Valentine. I love the way she always squeals in embarrassment whenever I mention boys, but I think more than that, I love how this sort of talk makes my older brother squirm. Don't encourage her, Keri. The guilt will rest on your shoulders when I'm forced to break some kid's kneecaps.
The kneecaps in question this time went by the name of Steven. Steven sits at the same table as she does. He doesn't talk a lot. He always gets his reading done first and has never been benched at recess. Steven sounded a little bit like a goody goody to me, but I was relieved that her Valentine wasn't the boy that stole the younger kid's lunch money and pulled all the girl's hair. Does that still happen in school? Sorry, bad hair pulling flashback. I thought the whole talk with my niece was adorable, but what I find even cuter is that I know when I call her next week, she'll probably have moved on to Billy or Justin or Robbie because one of them chose her to throw the basketball to during PE.
What makes someone likable anyway? Is it based solely on outward appearance? With our professions, it certainly seems that way most of the time. Is it a certain sense of humor? Is it when you seem to share the same morals and values as someone else? Or is it an attraction even smaller than that? Maybe it's the way they laugh at all your jokes even when you know what you just said was stupid, or how they remember something you said in passing and you didn't think they were even paying attention at the time. I think sometimes we like people because we can't have them. I think sometimes we don't like people because we can. Maybe they took care of you when you were sick once or they let you take care of them. Maybe it's the way you know you could trust them with all of your secrets or it's the feeling you get of wanting them to know everything about you; even the bad things. Maybe it's one of these things, all of these things, or none of these things. Maybe you can't ever pinpoint why you like someone and maybe sometimes you're really baffled as to why you do. Maybe sometimes you just wish someone would like you back. Am I in the second grade again? I'm willing to catch the ball if you'd just throw it my way. If not, I have no problem moving on. I'll find someone else to share my cookies with.
The kneecaps in question this time went by the name of Steven. Steven sits at the same table as she does. He doesn't talk a lot. He always gets his reading done first and has never been benched at recess. Steven sounded a little bit like a goody goody to me, but I was relieved that her Valentine wasn't the boy that stole the younger kid's lunch money and pulled all the girl's hair. Does that still happen in school? Sorry, bad hair pulling flashback. I thought the whole talk with my niece was adorable, but what I find even cuter is that I know when I call her next week, she'll probably have moved on to Billy or Justin or Robbie because one of them chose her to throw the basketball to during PE.
What makes someone likable anyway? Is it based solely on outward appearance? With our professions, it certainly seems that way most of the time. Is it a certain sense of humor? Is it when you seem to share the same morals and values as someone else? Or is it an attraction even smaller than that? Maybe it's the way they laugh at all your jokes even when you know what you just said was stupid, or how they remember something you said in passing and you didn't think they were even paying attention at the time. I think sometimes we like people because we can't have them. I think sometimes we don't like people because we can. Maybe they took care of you when you were sick once or they let you take care of them. Maybe it's the way you know you could trust them with all of your secrets or it's the feeling you get of wanting them to know everything about you; even the bad things. Maybe it's one of these things, all of these things, or none of these things. Maybe you can't ever pinpoint why you like someone and maybe sometimes you're really baffled as to why you do. Maybe sometimes you just wish someone would like you back. Am I in the second grade again? I'm willing to catch the ball if you'd just throw it my way. If not, I have no problem moving on. I'll find someone else to share my cookies with.