As I’ve mentioned, we have some bathroom/laundry renovations going on at our home right now. A very nice young man is supervising the project and he seems to be doing a lot of the woodwork, many times solo. When the project first started and there were a few men here, I heard the soft sounds of country music in the background. However, as it became time for the woodwork and it was solo time for the young man, I didn’t hear any music being played. I heard a woman speaking with a prim, crisp British accent. Curious, as I am a naturally curious person, I found myself wandering over to the corner of the house where they are working, under the guise of offering refreshments, honestly, to see what the woman’s voice was all about.
From what I could tell, it became obvious to me that the young man was listening to recorded books as he did the work on our house. I was so admittedly, pleasantly surprised. I have three “young men” sons myself, and honestly, I think that they would be listening to rap music (or sometimes zany podcasts), if they were in this young man’s shoes. It was also a self-awareness moment for me. I already had preconceived notions of what young men listen to, what they are interested in and maybe even a little bit of “if you are a tactile person with talents like woodworking, you aren’t a cerebral person who likes books.” Damn, this self-awareness movement has me looking at myself in a whole new light and sometimes, it ain’t pretty!
Here’s the best part. The curious part of me who doesn’t have a great filter, couldn’t leave it at that – I had to know for sure that he was listening to recorded books, I was curious about what book he was listening to and I was little disconcerted that he sometimes goes outside to cut wood and the English woman reading the book is still prattling on. Doesn’t he get confused and miss some of the good parts? Maybe he just gets lonely and likes to hear a voice in the background as he works?!?
So, one morning, while I probably hadn’t even pulled a comb through my hair yet (think bedhead), I just couldn’t help myself.
“Excuse me, I have a personal question for you . . . ” I said.
At this juncture, the young woodworker looked up at me in horror. Reflecting back, I wonder if he was thinking, “Oh gross! Another desperate, middle-aged housewife!” He had a very concerned, guarded look on his face. In retrospect, the curious part of me wonders if the renovation company trains these young woodworkers and plumbers on how to stave off advances (kind of like they do for young NBA players). It’s quite possible.
“Are you listening to recorded books while you work?” I asked quickly and furtively.
The young man still looked a little disturbed but relieved at the same time. This started a conversation between us about what book he was currently listening to and what his favorite genre of reading is (sci-fi/fantasy). It turns out that he is listening to Game of Thrones. I love the TV series of Game of Thrones, but he told me that they leave so much out in the TV remake and as always, the books are so much better. As for being concerned about missing sections, he told me that he has already read a lot of the books (over 700 pages each) and he has seen the show, so he can fill in a lot of the dots, when he misses a few pages being read. We, as two lovers of literature, had a really great conversation before he reminded me that he had to get back to work.
“The reality of life is that your perceptions – right or wrong – influence everything else you do. When you get a proper perspective of your perceptions, you may be surprised how many other things fall into place.” Roger Birkman
I am so grateful that my curiosity usually overtakes my perceptions! I learn about life and those who live it, that way. And often reality is a hell of a lot more interesting than my perception of it. Isn’t that grand?
