The Friday Five

Himself is always amazed when we have to wait some place like a grocery store line or a doctor's office, how people just gravitate towards me and tell me things about their life. I don't ask them. They just tell me things. While waiting at the doctor's office with my dad yesterday, five things I learned about another patient.

1. As a child, she met her future father-in-law before she met her husband. The father-in-law worked at Benson's Wild Animal Farm as the elephant caretaker. He gave elephant rides to the kid. She loved the elephant and would hang out there on visits, talking to the caretaker and even having lunch with him at the picnic table. When her boyfriend took her home to meet the folks, she looked at the dad. The dad looked at her and said: I know you!

2. Her dad worked for the Boston and Maine Railroad. She used to ride the train in to Boston to go shopping. Then to the rail yard to meet her dad.

3. She wished her son would marry the nice girl he's seeing, settle down and give her grandchildren. She already had a dozen grandchilden, and even a couple of great-grand children. Her face lit up when she was talking about the grandkids. She really liked being a grandma.

4. Her daughter is training for the US Olympic equestrian team.

5. She was having a stress test.

If you're waiting in line, do strangers strike up conversations with you and tell you details of their lives?