Nov 11

Nov 11 Tales of the unexpected

Something happened when I was on my delightfully enjoyable weekend break in York that reminded me just how surprising, rewarding and fascinating it can be to have conversations with strangers (obviously with the caveat that they’re not axe murderers, in which case a conversation is definitely not something I’d recommend. But I digress.)

The York encounter brought to mind a quite different, but equally unexpected and revealing, conversation I had with a Heydayer I met at an event a couple of years ago. Both exchanges turned out to be far more fascinating than I had expected, for quite different reasons. Let me explain.

Digging deep in York

I can’t honestly say that I was especially interested by the sign saying ‘Archaeology Open Day’ that we passed as we set off on our first walk to explore York, but my travelling companions were intrigued, so we agreed to be given a tour of the very un-preposessing site of a small dig, consisting of two not especially deep trenches in the grounds of an abandoned care home.

The first interesting detail that our young, bushy-bearded guide shared with us was that the diggers who had been responsible for the excavations were all taking part in a project supporting people with mental health challenges, and that the dig was a “mental health prescription” experiment that had proved to be remarkably successful.

After some description of what the layers of earth they had dug, showed, which I confess (please don’t judge me) I found less than riveting, he picked up a tray of what looked like nothing more than random bits of broken stones and pottery. And then - bam.

He started to pick through the fragments, explaining that several were from the medieval period - a fact they they could tell from the green glaze that was popular at the time. One, he explained, was a decorated fragment from a Tudor dinner plate (it’s the striped piece in the top left corner of the tray) - again, it was the method and type of glazing that allowed them to date it to the period. And then he held up a small piece of grey stone which he said they were able to identify as a sort of pottery made in Roman times.

When he let us handle some of the fragments, I found holding part of a dinner plate that someone in Tudor times would have eaten off, to be more thrilling than I could have imagined. Not thrilling enough to encourage me to spend hours on my knees sifting through earth and mud to find it, mind, but unexpectedly exciting none-the-less.

Having been hesitant about giving up some of our relatively limited time in York to wander round some holes in the ground (sorry if that makes me sound like a complete heathen), I could have happily listened for hours to this knowledgable, enthusiastic, amusing man (whose name I’ve managed to completely forget) talking about bits of pottery that he and his group of mentally soothed volunteers had somehow managed to find amongst all the everyday stones and lumps of earth, and what they showed about the lives of people living on this spot through the centuries.

A surprising story

The other memorable stranger conversation I referred to at the start, was with a Heydayer called Jeanne, who I couldn’t help myself stopping at a trade show I was visiting in order to compliment her on her fabulous outfit. I’m sure you can see why.

What started as a conversation about her wonderfully stand-out choice of clothes, turned into a revelation of a completely unexpected and moving nature. I’m not going to reveal any more about what Jeanne said here, you’ll have to CLICK HERE to find out what it was that she told me. But it has stayed with me ever since.

Those entirely random conversations with complete strangers, are just two examples of the many times an unplanned exchange has turned into something memorable. Something I’ve learned from. Something I’ve discovered about the person I’ve talked to and sometimes myself too. Something that has opened my eyes and my heart in ways I couldn’t have predicted.

The veteran broadcaster Ken Bruce once said “everyone has a story, it’s my job to find out what it is”. I can’t think of a better way to approach every opportunity you get to find out what story a stranger has to share.

When have you had a conversation with someone you didn’t know that has stayed with you?