Learning curve

There are things that one learns on trips with other people. Good things sometimes, tough things other times, annoying things often. I'm sure there are a number of annoying things about me (and I'm not saying that to be humble, I annoy myself sometimes). I caught myself doing one of those things today and decided to walk away from a situation so that other's could achieve. It all worked out but I was annoyed with myself for being annoying. Yeah, logic missing.

Anyway, on trips with others where we co-reside in a home we learn who snores, who talks in their sleep, the person who wakes up the fastest, who is perkiest in the morning and who isn't (me!), who will be the first to volunteer to help with something and the last. We learn who keeps things super neat and who loses all their stuff within the first 15 minutes of arriving. We learn who will be the last one out of the house in the morning (Debbie), who takes the longest showers (Sammy), who needs the shortest amount of time to get ready in the morning and who talks until they fall asleep.

It's fascinating getting to know people on a deeper level, learning to navigate the nuances, dance around the unknown and completely unexpected, yet expected, when people snap after being pushed to their limits. I like knowing where the limits are for others, it's a good thing to know just how much teasing one can take and when to back off.

Then there are those gem moments. Those moments when someone does or says something that makes the room erupt, usually in laughter. No kidding. I thought I knew a lot about Harold and Kanda, I really did, but when in the midst of conversation Kanda said "Oh, they just need to eat green weenie's and die." I realized that I did not know them as well as I thought. It even stunned Joe who spent much of his life at their house. It stunned Kanda and Harold who claim they make that statement all the time and couldn't believe that none of us had heard it before. Believe me, haven't heard it...would have remembered it...am going to remember it from now on!