for you, sir

My friend David and I were able to hang out a little bit last week. When we were talking, I realized one of the big reasons why I enjoy his company so much, and that's because he merely asks me simple questions about my life.

Everytime I see David, he talks to me about things that hit right on the mark of subjects that are important to me, and yet they are things no one else I have met asks me about. A conversation with him always includes a questions like, "So how are you doing?" "How is your family?" "How is church" "How is school?" "How are the ladies?" -- and he really wants to know honest answers, and i'm impressed with that because no one else seems to care. Sure people ask "How are you?" but do they really want to know?

An example is that for being someone who doesn't know my family too well, he will always inquire about them, wondering if everyone is doing well and that's really cool to me, because no one asks how my Mom, Dad, brother, or sister are doing. People just don't ask each other those kinds of questions unless they know them well, and not that it's personal, it's just a nice gesture I think for someone to care. Maybe his understanding of conversation is different because he's from Korea, or perhaps that's just the way he is.

Instead of only my Mom or Dad asking about how my classes are, or how baseball is going, or how busy I am, I have a friend who does. I don't know, I guess it's comforting to know someone else wants an update on my life; someone is understanding that classes are bogging me down and making me insanely busy, that I am doing well in baseball this year, or that I haven't had time to try and date girls.

When I think about it, when someone asks "how are you?" no one really expects, or perhaps even cares, about how you are doing. Funny. The other day my friend Tim asked me how I was doing, and I replied "awful". 'Awful' doesn't even rhyme with 'good' or 'fine' or 'okay', but he promptly responded with "That's good to hear, good good." And what makes me even more sick is lately with the stupid "How was your Spring Break", because no one really cares, it's just easy conversation, and you are sure to get the question given back to you where you spit out the same answer you have been giving everyone else the past 20 times.