Tell me about a random conversation with a stranger that changed your life in some way

[Anonymous]

I am from a small rural community in WV.

I went to Harvard for law school. I attended a dinner at a professor’s home and offhandedly complimented one of his antiques, a wood burning stove/oven. Mentioned my grandma said she couldn’t bake bread right in an electric one.

At that point I learned how I could never be part of the “elite.” He and his wife proceeded to grill me about how amazing it was to witness “culture” and “art” like we don’t have those. Then grilled me about why I don’t have an accent (newsflash: because bigots like you think I’m stupid if I use my natural accent).

Thanks, Bob. I’m doing fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am from a small rural community in WV.

I went to Harvard for law school. I attended a dinner at a professor’s home and offhandedly complimented one of his antiques, a wood burning stove/oven. Mentioned my grandma said she couldn’t bake bread right in an electric one.

At that point I learned how I could never be part of the “elite.” He and his wife proceeded to grill me about how amazing it was to witness “culture” and “art” like we don’t have those. Then grilled me about why I don’t have an accent (newsflash: because bigots like you think I’m stupid if I use my natural accent).

Thanks, Bob. I’m doing fine.

How did this change my life? I realized what I needed to do was give these people the finger and do my own thing. I am very successful but doubt I would be if I followed the traditional path of Law Review, clerkships, law firm, OLC…nope. Not for me.

[Anonymous]

My DH and I went to a local restaurant, we haven't been there in a month or maybe two.

The waitress there had changed so much that I wasn't sure it was her. She looked really healthy and prettier, too. (FWIW I'm an older married woman)

I commented that she looked great! She said the only thing she was doing differently was jogging--for TEN minutes. 10 minutes a day. She said she could not do 45 or 30...but she could do 10.

I thought about it and it's sort of true, I can do really about anything if it's only for 10 minutes.

That has really changed my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am from a small rural community in WV.

I went to Harvard for law school. I attended a dinner at a professor’s home and offhandedly complimented one of his antiques, a wood burning stove/oven. Mentioned my grandma said she couldn’t bake bread right in an electric one.

At that point I learned how I could never be part of the “elite.” He and his wife proceeded to grill me about how amazing it was to witness “culture” and “art” like we don’t have those. Then grilled me about why I don’t have an accent (newsflash: because bigots like you think I’m stupid if I use my natural accent).

Thanks, Bob. I’m doing fine.

JD Vance, is that you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Over the last year, I gained about 40-50 pounds. It had to do with my DC going away to college and my DH getting cancer. Anyways, I was using food to self-soothe and I could not break this, every night I would swear to do better the next day but..just could not. My body has no upper limit of weight, so I was watching the scale go up and up. Nothing worked and it got so bad I had very little options in my closet; I wore the same few things (washed of course) over and over.

Someone posted on DCUM that one of the national parks was releasing hotel rooms for NEXT YEAR that night.

I had always wanted to go there, and when the kids were little we had a whole plan to go there, but had to cancel because we had to move to DC for DH's job.

So I stayed up and got the hotel room. It will be DH and my first empty-nester trip; reminds me of hikes we did before the kids.

Suddenly, my willpower came back! I'm super-excited to go, and know I have to drop the weight in order to do the long hikes. But I'm not discouraged because I have enough time to lose weight slowly and not make my daily life too hard. I now have the willpower to intermittent fasting (I just eat dinner) and am not eating bread/pasta, not snacking, and the weight is slowly coming off. Most importantly, even when I'm stuck a bit on a plateau, I can tell I'm not going to lose my resolve.

I'm so grateful to that OP. Thank you, mystery OP!

Thank you for posting and have a great trip!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at a dinner party at university and had one of those short, intense conversations that sometimes come up. Lasted less than half an hour, in the dark corner of a rented restaurant/bar.

It was a bunch of philosophers and humanities types. I was talking to an older woman professor about medical ethics. I talked about my grief over letting down my mother as she was dying -- sepsis from a UTI, breast cancer treatment, and I as I medical student didn't pick up on it fast enough.

This still haunted me. She pointed out that if my mother was septic enough to go that fast (died that night), nobody likely could have saved her, and that my mother probably wanted to spend the time with me, not as an object treated by me, anyway.

Damn. About three total sentences, and then the conversation moved on. But I let go of grief that had haunted me for years.

Wow, and she was right, too. Great story, really glad for you.

[Anonymous]

I was really going through it a few years back and was on the verge of divorce with my husband. Something really got me that day and I ran out of the back of my building on 16th and K in the alley and held on to one of the dumpsters and just sobbed.

A woman came out of nowhere and basically held my shoulders and said “you are going to be ok. You will look back in a year and know you are where you should be. You will get through this.”

And I just think about that a lot. She could have easily walked past and not gotten involved but she took the time. I was so embarrassed and relieved that day and she’s always stuck w me.

[Anonymous]

I had a bad breakup with a boyfriend...who worked in finance and yes, this matters. A post-doc where I was training said I need to date men in engineering like her husband. She said that's where the kind, sensitive, good- natured men are. I had never dated an engineer before. My husband of 20 years is an engineer. She was right!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a bad breakup with a boyfriend...who worked in finance and yes, this matters. A post-doc where I was training said I need to date men in engineering like her husband. She said that's where the kind, sensitive, good- natured men are. I had never dated an engineer before. My husband of 20 years is an engineer. She was right!

Well, crap. I married a finance guy.

[Anonymous]

I love these stories. Mine isn't very touching, but I do think it meets the criteria of the topic, if the thread police is still around to validate.

Anyway, I was in my early 20's, shopping with a friend for another friend's wedding registry. When we were in line to check out, I said something to my friend like "I can't cook at all." The woman in line behind me said: "Anyone can cook. You just pick up a recipe and follow it step by step."

I decided to try, and I've loved to cook ever since. It's always funny to me that that is all it took.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Over the last year, I gained about 40-50 pounds. It had to do with my DC going away to college and my DH getting cancer. Anyways, I was using food to self-soothe and I could not break this, every night I would swear to do better the next day but..just could not. My body has no upper limit of weight, so I was watching the scale go up and up. Nothing worked and it got so bad I had very little options in my closet; I wore the same few things (washed of course) over and over.

Someone posted on DCUM that one of the national parks was releasing hotel rooms for NEXT YEAR that night.

I had always wanted to go there, and when the kids were little we had a whole plan to go there, but had to cancel because we had to move to DC for DH's job.

So I stayed up and got the hotel room. It will be DH and my first empty-nester trip; reminds me of hikes we did before the kids.

Suddenly, my willpower came back! I'm super-excited to go, and know I have to drop the weight in order to do the long hikes. But I'm not discouraged because I have enough time to lose weight slowly and not make my daily life too hard. I now have the willpower to intermittent fasting (I just eat dinner) and am not eating bread/pasta, not snacking, and the weight is slowly coming off. Most importantly, even when I'm stuck a bit on a plateau, I can tell I'm not going to lose my resolve.

I'm so grateful to that OP. Thank you, mystery OP!

Hope it's a wonderful trip! That's so great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at a dinner party at university and had one of those short, intense conversations that sometimes come up. Lasted less than half an hour, in the dark corner of a rented restaurant/bar.

It was a bunch of philosophers and humanities types. I was talking to an older woman professor about medical ethics. I talked about my grief over letting down my mother as she was dying -- sepsis from a UTI, breast cancer treatment, and I as I medical student didn't pick up on it fast enough.

This still haunted me. She pointed out that if my mother was septic enough to go that fast (died that night), nobody likely could have saved her, and that my mother probably wanted to spend the time with me, not as an object treated by me, anyway.

Damn. About three total sentences, and then the conversation moved on. But I let go of grief that had haunted me for years.

Love this. I’m happy that you met this person, pp. You deserved to let go of the grief and guilt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I met a woman waiting for a train. I was with my daughter (who is adopted from another ethnicity, so it is sort of obvious). The woman gently asked if she was adopted. I said yes. She asked if she had been an orphan/lived in an orphanage before I got her. I said yes. She asked how old she was when she got adopted. I said 1. Then I asked how old she was when she got adopted. She said she was never adopted.

The silence hung in the air. I asked, "Well do you have a husband or children of your own now (she looked to be in her 30's)". She said "No."

I was not sure how to respond. The thought of going all through life with literally no family was just very hard for me to imagine.

How did this change your life?

I adopted more children so no one would have to go through life alone.

[Anonymous]

I was a 19 year old female in the military. I had just gotten to my first duty station and had bought a guitar with one of my first paychecks. There I was in the dayroom of my dorm and this guy who worked with my roommate stopped by. I was practicing on my new guitar. I asked him if he knew how to play guitar. He said yes.

This changed my life in some way because I married him. We had our 40th anniversary couple months ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I met an American middle-aged woman randomly in a restaurant in Switzerland, she was with her teenaged son. She had moved to Switzerland as a young woman and married, then divorced, a Swiss man. She latched on to me and my mother who was with me, we even met up the next day. She was lonely for the U.S. but no longer really had any connection to the country and couldn't go back without leaving her children who were totally Swiss behind. I came close years later to marrying someone in another country and would have had to settle in his country. This story really stuck with me and tipped me against that choice.

I wish I had met that woman. Moving continents is the big regret of my life.