tomfromhr.com a blog on tech, politics, life and zombies

Cheering for Strangers

Every now and then, I tell a relative stranger that they are awesome, and that they can do something.

Often, lately, this is related to a job. As is common with Millenials, we are constantly seeking new jobs, better opportunities, and all that. Many are still looking for their first job. So someone will tweet about an opportunity, or something they're scared about, or an interview, and I will offer tweets of support, of encouragement, and try to check in later to see how things went. I share in their victories, and their defeats, as things come and go.

And I do this with relative strangers, basically. Not total strangers. People I've known for close to a year now, really. People I've talked with, people who I've seen share some of their deepest secrets, people who I've gotten drunk with. But people I've never met. People whose capabilities, really, I have no idea about.

But still I cheer them on. I tell them they can do it. I tell them I'd wish them luck, if I thought they needed it. And you know what? They do the same for me.

And I think this is absolutely awesome. I think it's kind of hilarious, and a little weird, but wonderful. I do this because I believe in these people. I believe in the power of my generation, to reach out and touch people, to acquire knowledge, and to be the absolute best at anything we put our minds to.

What's perhaps most important, though, is our capacity to love. Our ability to reach out and touch complete strangers. So many people I now count among some of my best friends, I met through a collective video blogging project. That's insane, and wonderful, really.

But I've also learned that if you reach out to people, they tend to reach back. For so long, I had no idea how to tell people "I think you're cool and we should hang out" without them thinking it was some kind of romantic gesture (and, to be fair, occasionally it was). I was always worried they'd be like "WTF? You're weird." But I've learned that, if you do say basically that, people tend to go "Cool! Let's!". It's amazing, and wonderful.

I don't know if there was a particular point to this, but just something that's been on my mind, lately.

And just as a reminder; if you ever need to talk, I'm here to listen. I can't promise stellar advice, or really saying anything more than "I'm sorry, that sounds really difficult." Cause sometimes there isn't more to say than that, really. But if you send me an email, I will read it. And I think, honestly, if you look around and reach out to people, they do reach back.

And if you do ever want to say to me "I think you're cool, and we should hang out," odds are I will say the same thing back. Of course, I may suggest we hang out in Azeroth. But you should not dismiss that out of hand.