What do the things we share with people say about who we are? I watched the Voice of Africa on Thursday night and left grateful to have the experience. The guy introducing each song explained that the group drummed and danced to share the pride and joy they felt for their culture. Thursday night I felt that joy and understood that pride because of their decision to share. Their music brought in an incredible spirit wrought with meaning and faith and tradition, thank goodness God made us all different. The message they shared was universally beautiful.

The next night I sat on a plane in the middle of two strangers. One passenger was a 27 year old attorney, the other passenger an electrical engineer. Both were flying home after doing work up in Salt Lake. As we talked it was easy to see how much education meant to this young attorney. She was a hard worker with ambition, but I got the feeling that she was a normal down to earth woman at the same time. The engineer was too cute. He told us about his kids, especially the daughter at UCR who wanted to become a forensics technician like the CSI people. In all likelihood, I will probably never see those people again...but somewhere in Vegas there is a hard working attorney who values education, and in the thick of Burbank there is a family loving dad who's proud of his kids...and that is worth knowing. I like talking to strangers because it's those brief once-in-a-lifetime encounters where people teach you what's really important.