Reaching Out

Starbucks has become a mecca for my stories over the years. I have met many interesting people while waiting for appointments to show up and even developed quite a few friendships with people I met when appointments didn’t show up.

Monday I had a meeting schedule with a potential author at my local Starbucks and I was relieved to see there was a table open for me. I dropped my notebook on the table and walked up to order my mocha. The line was exceptionally short but there was no sign of my appointment.

I sat down to wait for both my coffee and my author when I noticed a woman standing nearby who was waiting for her order. I asked her what she did and she told me she is a ghost writer. Go figure! I love synchronicity!

After we had been talking for a few minutes, she asked me why I thought to approach her. I told her that I had adopted an attitude that I had a 50/50 chance of connecting with someone every day if I simply initiated a conversation. Sometimes the conversation would lead to a connection for one of us, sometimes it would become obvious we had many similar interests and other times, it was simply a pleasant exchange. But I was always open to see where it might lead.

She was a bit skeptical, but hopefully, she is a bit more open about connecting with new contacts.