TMI

Pretty often in life, a perfect stranger tells me too much information. Sometimes I bring it upon myself by asking, what I think is, a simple question. But sometimes people just blurt things out and I find myself running late to work because the UPS lady wouldn't stop telling me her family history. I'm not sure why people feel comfortable telling me the things they do sometimes, but I think it's an inherited trait. My mom has strangers bypass 100 people to come up to her and ask for directions. HER mom, my grandma, used to spend forever at the grocery because she would talk to people in every aisle, and just when you thought it was over, she'd spend another 15 minutes chatting away the cashier.

Just for fun, here are some things people have shared with me in recent years.

Starting with the UPS lady who I mentioned a couple posts ago- I recently went to UPS to ship a birthday gift to one of our nieces in Virginia Beach. When the lady working saw where I was shipping it, she told me she used to live in Virginia Beach. I then made the mistake of asking what brought her to Louisville and she filled me in on her husband's job in the Navy, how old her kids are and what they do for a living, what she loved about Virginia Beach, and every city they lived in before and after Virginia Beach, and finally their ultimate decision to move to Louisville after he retired from the Navy because they wanted to live in the South but be close to her mom in Cleveland because she's old and not in great health but not TOO close because she and her mom have a complicated relationship. Luckily I left before she went into detail about the source of their complicated relationship or I would have been even LATER to work than I already was.

One time I saw a lady cutting cheese and ham for free samples at Kroger and she was bawling her eyes out. Everyone was ignoring her, so when I walked by I stopped and asked "Are you ok?" She then proceeded to tell me what a jerk her boss was, how mean he was to her, and how she hated her job. I mostly just stood there listening and nodding until she finally stopped crying, thanked me for listening, and gave me some cheese and ham on a cracker.

One time a doctor I went to and had never met before, told me all about how her boyfriend wouldn't bite the bullet and ask her to marry him and how she couldn't understand what his hesitation was considering they lived together and owned a dog. I also know a lot of personal information about my dental hygienist and dermatologist.

This story I was reminded of by the recent passing of Muhammad Ali. I was working downtown before we moved to Boston, and I was walking to lunch one day when a guy stopped me and my friend and asked if he could tell us a story. He said he was here for a work trip and had just been at the Muhammad Ali Center by himself wasting a few hours. He said the video at the beginning of the museum ended, the door opened, and Ali himself was wheeled into the room. So he got to meet Ali and have his picture taken with him and he was FREAKING OUT about how cool it was and just had to stop someone and tell them about it. (He showed us the picture too.)

I get asked for directions all of the time, even when I'm a tourist in another city. I've also been asked for restaurant suggestions, my opinions on hummus in the grocery store, and don't even get me started on dressing room conversations at clothing stores.  There are so many more stories and a lot I'm sure I've forgotten. Some I wish I could forget, like the person who told me about her family member's vasectomy. And even though I joke with my friends and family about how annoying it is to constantly be stopped by people or spend way longer in a place than I intended because of these instances, I really don't mind being the random listener or recommendation giver or direction giver. Maybe people think I have a friendly face or I look like I know where I'm going. Maybe when that lady saw me choose my hummus without hesitation she knew she could trust me. Or maybe I just look like a sucker.