On the elevator at 4:10pm, thumbing through the stack of work in my bag. I had 15 King County filings, two of them monetary. No big deal. But I was going to wait for one more that wasn’t ready yet. A guy got on. I never looked up from my bag.
He said, “what kind of bike do you ride?” and I said,
“today, I’m riding a Bridgestone” then I looked him in the eye
“oh, does it have gears?” as if he was doing his own little survey of messengers he was able to corner in elevators.
“yes, seven in the back, one up front” then I said “do you own a German bird dog?” and he looked stunned and confused
“no”
“oh, I must’ve mistaken you for someone else” still staring him in the eye, then he says
“yes, yes I do. Yes”
“yeah I used to live on North Capitol Hill by the park and I’d see you walking your dog every morning” Those German wire hair pointers will go for a tennis ball all day long.
I don’t mind talking about bikes on elevators. It sure beats the weather as a topic. But it was nice to turn the tables on this guy and ask him a seemingly random question about his dog. It really stunned him. Perhaps I can start random elevator question asking the officetrons about student loans, fraternity rituals or sorority functions, office politics, 401ks, casual Fridays, what kind of car they drive, the shoes they're wearing, what they eat for lunch, break room policies and what it is they actually do all day at their desks.
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