(Repost) Once Again, into the Jungle

So, I have a question for you all, Dear Readers: what do a police officer, an awesome autism advocate and a Dave and Busters have in common?

Well, they all mean something great to me and that also were people I got to saw yesterday on my first day out of quarantine. My friends and I decided to go to a Dave and Busters to celebrate our collective freedom, but I decided to get there early and check out what was happening a bit early.

Enter the aforementioned Police Officer. The police officer in particular was someone I didn’t remember until he noticed me walking inside a local mall.

When he first noticed me, he asked me where I went to college and that he remembered me from a eulogy that I made several years ago for a beloved Philosophy teacher who passed away. After he and I talked about what we’ve done since then, he said something that stuck with me.

He said that our former teacher “taught us to see the world differently, to think in a different way.” It was something that I hadn’t thought about lately, but now that I’m able to step back and think, it’s something that’s always been there, but never knew where or when.

Talking with the Police officer made me realize that I do make a difference, that I do make an impact due to my thinking differently about obstacles or problems. I owe a lot of that to my dear friend Larry (God Rest his Soul) but I also owe a lot to a friend that made me think of Philosophy differently.

I’ll always thank Dr. Davis (God Rest his Soul) for the impact he made in my life.

That gets me to Dave and Busters, a restaurant that’s also an arcade, with all the lights, sounds and food you could expect. Granted that it feels overwhelming, but it’s a great place. I met two friends that I hadn’t seen in a while there, a server that I worked with at my current job. The other is an awesome (au-some, perhaps?) autism advocate and great friend named Jesse Saperstein, whom I’ve mentioned here before.

Having him see my house family and I having fun and taking a selfie with me was such a wonderful treat for me. After seeing him online and on Zoom for so long, it made me smile to know that he was all right and that he was as friendly as he’s always been.

So, there were the three treasures I saw during my trip into the concrete jungle, showing us all that unexpected things can happen when we least expect. Thank you all for surprises, for all the lessons and for helping me (and us) to…..

Shine On!!!