Who are your favorite people to be around?

Another WordPress prompt? Sure, I’m up for it!

#Letsgo

Who are my people? Let’s see:

  1. Music people: I loved to sing. I did solos in high school, but my voice isn’t that powerful voice you here in the forefront. My voice tends to be the voice that brings other voices together, which is fine. Being the quiet guy in the back row has ALWAYS been ok with me. I sang all four years of high school, singing in many different ensembles and small groups. We had a yearly variety show that was always so much fun to do. I never was on the stage in a musical or anything like that, and that is one of the few regrets that I have as a singer. Now, I’d struggle remembering lines, but back then, that would have been fun! 🙂 Then, I sang for three years in college and met my wife there, but also met some amazing people with talent head and shoulders above mine. Those were my people, bass singers especially. Our crew in my junior year of college was especially good. However, we also like to have WAY too much fun. We’d mess with our choir director (because he was not a nice person) and all sing just a little bit off. He’d stop the choir, look around, and have us all sing the note by section, which would be perfect, then as a whole choir, again perfect. Then we’d start in on the song again, and sure enough, we’d make that note a little sharp or flat, enough for him to stop us again, then have each of us sing the note individually. At this point, he’d be getting mad and we’d be looking as innocent as possible. I miss that. I was also a tube player in high school, which was pretty awesome too. The grumbling bass you’d hear was usually me, the bass clarinets to my left, and the baritone sax to my right. We had a ton of fun as well. Not as much as college choir, mind you, but fun all the same. I went to a few honor bands, and playing with 7 tubas was always a highlight because getting us all together would make this sound that would vibrate through your bones. So very cool.
  2. Sports people: I’m that rare person who loved performing music AND performing on a different stage. Obviously, if you’ve followed this blog for a while, I love coaching basketball. That’s my passion. I like to think I’m good at it, but I’m also a middle school coach, so I can’t be that good! 🙂 While was getting my teaching degree, I always thought of myself as a football coach. Who knew that a large part of my teaching career would be coaching middle school girls?? As it is, I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but it is funny where life takes you. Along with coaching, I love watching basketball, but also football, swimming, and cross country too. The last two are strictly because of my daughters and their own involvement in sports in school. Both of them were considered “junk sports” so their funding wasn’t much and the crowds were usually us as parents, but wow, were both the other parents and the participants always SO supportive. The last runner in a race would get this big roar of appreciation when they’d finish. The last swimmer was always welcomed in with big cheers. The teams were always supportive of each other and it just showed me how sports SHOULD be played/watched. I miss going to those events because they were always so positive. There was never the complaining about playing time, or how the officials were, it was just simply going out and competing, but against other racers, but also against yourself.
  3. Nerds/Geeks: While this may seem odd, as someone who was a band/music/speech performer, that crowd of misfits was just home. As I teach, I appreciate those kids who really don’t have that spot, because that was me. I loved to read, I wasn’t a townie (we lived out in the country), we didn’t do 4-H or FFA, our swimming lessons were done in a different town, it was just hard for me to interact during the summer with my friends. I’d have to ride my bike the 7 miles into town to see anyone and after a while, it was just easier to stay home. I wasn’t that guy (still not) who liked to talk on the phone a ton, so there I get their position. However, today’s group has so much technology at their disposal! Between movies and video games and various types of anime, they have so many groups they can find to be a part of that they KNOW they aren’t alone in this world, which is pretty sweet.
  4. Kind people: You think I’d leave them out?? Ha! Not likely! This goes without saying. I just appreciated kind people, people who know who they are and who can just be. We all have issues that we deal with, but the kind people aren’t the ones who take advantage of those things. I just sent this to a student, and it fits with adults: Find those people who will lift you up, not pull you down. This goes double into the adult world because it’s hard to find those who want to see you do good. These are the angels among us, the safe people. If you find them, don’t let them go because they are rare in life anymore.

So, who are your people? Let me know in the comments because I’d love to see how our lists are alike AND different! 🙂