sometimes there are people who do very simple things that just show so much care.  there's this guy who works for the construction department at my job who is always so willing to help out with anything he is asked--at least that has been my experience.  he is also an artist so when we have events he is our photographer and volunteer. yesterday, i was on my way out heading to Hartford and i bumped into some people including him.  i mentioned that i was on my way to CT and he jokingly asked if he could go. i said "sure! come along" and he took it seriously.  so he ended up going down to CT with me just to ride along.  he said that he didn't want me to go by myself.  i just thought that that was so nice of him.  i'm sure he could have spent his time doing something else or hanging out with his girlfriend but instead the he chose to come along for the heck of it. 

i really appreciated the fact that he came.  the weird thing is that earlier that morning i was thinking of how i didn't really want to go to CT alone because the night before i had gone there and was really sleepy. plus, i got food poisoning from this free leftover food we had at the church. that's another story including 16 more people.  :) quite hilarious actually.  anyway, that morning i thought to myself, "who would be a person that i know would say yes without thinking about it twice?", and his guy's name was among those that came to mind.  isn't that weird? that the person i thought would be good to come along and would actually do so, ended up coming with me.  after the data collection visit we went to eat something, and later stopped for a Frosty from Wendy's.  moments like last night are so simple and yet so fulfilling.  i didn't plan to have good conversation, share a meal + dessert, laugh and connect without human being but yet organically it all turned out that way.  we made plans to go to Rockport with his girlfriend because she has never been on the commuter rail or Rockport.  he's a person who hasn't finished school, works in construction and i don't even think that he's in this country fully documented.  yet, hanging out with him had such quality to it. the simplicity of our interactions and complexity of conversation was just easy to follow.  more more i realize that i long to connect with people who are not intellectually-inclined, or have vast knowledge to share, or an opinion to everything; but people who--whether they're highly educated or not--have a human quality and simplicity to them.  i want to become more and more like those people. 

having him take his time after a long day of work to pointlessly--in theory--accompany me to CT, made me feel cared for and that, even for a couple of hours, someone was genuinely concern with my well-being.  it's funny how such a simple gesture can have such an emotional impact.   :)