How are you?

This is a short week as Friday is a holiday. I am looking forward to heading out with my daughter to second hand stores to search for bargains. We love to scan the racks to find that perfect slightly used jacket, shirt or dress.

As I look at each item, I always think about the life of the person who wore that piece of clothing before it was donated to charity. What is their story? Sometimes my daughter and I recreate the imaginary life of the previous owners. We give them names, talk about what they are like, what job they do, how many kids they have.

Everyone has a story. Everyone is interesting. How many time do we ask, “How are you”. People predictably answer, “Fine”. I like to follow up with, “are you really?”

Asking that second question, make the initial inquiry genuine and gives people the permission to tell you a little of their story. I find it fascinating and I always learn something.

Everyone has a story.