{Conversation Partner #2}
Noor
and I had lunch again.
However, this time, she wanted to go
to Pizza Snob. Of course, I more than
willingly obliged {because who doesn’t love pizza and good times, am I
right?}. I got out early from a meeting,
so I headed to Pizza Snob around 20 minutes early. I inhaled the aroma of freshly-made dough,
smoked Mozzarella cheese, candied jalapeños and garlic-buttered meatballs. I waited in the absurdly long line and paid
for my pizza. Shortly thereafter, Noor walked
in the restaurant with a smile plastered on her face, as usual. However, she got mad at me because she wanted
to pay for my pizza. She said that was
why she wanted to meet at Pizza Snob, instead of the BLUU.
As she waited for her own pizza, I
smiled to myself about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful conversation
partner and now, such a wonderful friend.
Her act of kindness immediately reminded me of the movie, Pay it Forward.
In the movie, Pay it Forward, a young boy decides to “pay it forward” by doing
three good deeds for people, in hopes that those people would each “pay it forward”
to three more people. This idea has a
domino effect and eventually impacts an ever-widening group of people unknown
to the boy. Noor’s kindness reminds me
of this movie.
When I first got the assignment to
meet with a conversation partner, to be honest, I was not particularly excited
about the experience. I am already
extremely busy and do not have a lot of extra time. However, my first couple of lunches with Noor
have been so rewarding. We are both very
comfortable with each other, so it is easy to talk about anything and
everything. She has the biggest heart
and is always so welcoming. This week
she even invited me to a girl’s afternoon {they were going to watch The Fault in Our Stars for the first
time} with a few of her friends from the IEP program, which was so incredibly
sweet. We bond over our addiction to
coffee, our love of fashion, and our intrigue of each other’s cultures. Friendship is a unifying thing. It is cross-cultural and powerful. We are meant to live this life in community
and Noor has most definitely shown me that.
This week, Noor challenged me with
the idea of “paying it forward” and doing life with unlikely friends. If we simply “pay it forward” to just one
person a day, imagine how impactful our actions could become in such a short
time. I am definitely going to pay
Noor’s kindness back to someone this week, but the real question is, are you?
I've ran across the idea of "paying it forward" in conversations with some of my other friends, and it has always seemed like a really good idea. It is so awesome that you and your conversation partner get along so well, and that you are learning a lot about each other. I hope that "paying it forward" impacts someone's life and I think that it is an extremely cool idea that you and your conversation partner are bonding over it!
ReplyDeleteGreat reflection, thanks. Your conversations, and bonding, are marvelous.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, you explaining the pizza smells at the beginning is making me crave a piece.
ReplyDeleteI love the connection you made with your conversation partner and a familiar movie. This really helps me to understand your partner and interpret their character and kindness. Noor seems like an incredible individual with a wonderful outlook on life.
There has actually been a time in my life when a stranger showed a random act of kindness. I was in the gas station with two pints of ice cream (don't ask why) and the man in front of me offered to pay. At first I didn't let him, but he insisted. As he was leaving he said, "Now do this for the next person you see in the gas station." I'm not going to lie, I had forgot this even happened until I read your blog. However, I am going to the gas station in an hour so maybe there will be someone behind me in line so I can "pay it forward" as well.