Learning Moments

It is often said that some of the best teaching comes in those unexpected moments that aren't planned, those moments that just come up naturally. People are usually speaking of teaching children when they talk of this. But I recently had one of those experiences on a date.

We were watching a cop type movie at my place. One of the good guys was having a real bad day and was blaming himself for what was going wrong and he was basically sulking about it. The boyfriend commented that was what guys do under stress, they withdraw. He also said slapping a guy, which is what the character's partner did, is not the way to get him out of it.

After the movie ended I asked him what are you supposed to do when a guy does that if slapping isn't appropriate. And that led to a good discussion about how we both respond to real stressful situations and what we want from those around us when we are stressed and withdraw like that. Oddly, we both said pretty much the same thing.

From a movie came an unexpected moment to learn more about each other. And learning how to help someone in a situation like that is easier done when you aren't in the situation. It was a wonderful unplanned moment.

He also said I seem like I handle mood swings real well. This man is the master of the weird compliment. But I say thank you no matter how weird they are.