In new social environments, we tend to
start conversations with something we have in common: weather.
Eventually, we talk our way through sports, the economy, etc. If we are smart, we won’t talk politics (did
you know politics comes from two words: “poly”, meaning “many,” and “ticks” are
blood-sucking creatures!).
Covid is another such topic of
commonality. Everyone has been impacted
by the pandemic, either physically, financially, or around school and job
changes. School kids many years from now will talk about their shared
experience of Zoom education and disruption of person-to-person
relationships. I think my grandkids will
remain close later on because they were each other's only playmates during the
pandemic.
You have probably heard of six degrees of
separation. (See below.)
The idea is to choose anyone to find a
connection to others. How about Abraham Lincoln?
Let’s say you and I have just met and have shaken hands. The story goes that my great-grandfather shook hands with Mr. Lincoln. If I start with you (#1), you shake my hand (#2). I
shook my dad’s hand (#3), who in turn shook his father’s hand (#4). My great-grandfather (#5) met Lincoln (#6)
when he was reviewing the troops at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia. So, I shook the hand that shook, that shook the hand of President Lincoln. Six degrees of separation.
As President Lincoln was reviewing the troops at the Berkley Plantation, Harrison's Landing, VA, in 1862, a history of my great-grandfather's regiment states:
"As President Lincoln passed along the front of the lines he was preceded by Gen. McClellan. He was dressed in the costume familiar to the people by his portraits and his angular, attenuated figure seemed intensified by the high stovepipe hat he wore. The men had but a glimpse of his features as his horse was moving at a brisk trot, but the glimpse was sufficient to make a lasting impression..."
Based on this statement, it is doubtful that my great-grandfather shook his hand, but the tradition of the handshake continues down the generations. Maybe he had a chance later?
Below is a copy of a painting that covered the event.
Sometimes our stories launch
a similar thought or experience that we have in common with others. As a student, I represented my college. I traveled to various locations in my
role. In one place I stayed, I told a
joke to a high school student. He in turn
remembered a joke that related to mine, and the cycle began. We spent numerous hours trying to be
funny. Joking was our point of commonality.
We live in a time that separates people, especially politically. Rather than focus on what we don't agree on, we should look for what we have in common. We may have more in common
than we think. Make it a point to find
that commonality in others and discover connection. You may find some interesting
people in your “six degrees of separation,” or is it “six degrees of connection?”
