Sometimes it takes a minute to make a friend or an enemy, and it could go either way. Example: You go into a men’s room at a restaurant. There’s this big guy changing his kid’s diaper on the sink, taking up most of the room there.
The kid’s all spread out and it’s not pleasant. The atmosphere’s even worse than usual in the men’s room. Plus, you can’t really get at the sink.
This is the deciding moment.
You want to give the guy a dirty look in the mirror, say something like “sheeez!” and leave in a huff. But something stops you, and you take another path. You say to the guy, “Ah, the joys of fatherhood.”
And you smile at him in the mirror as he struggles. He looks up and says, “Tell me about it.” And he smiles. For a minute you both feel good instead of bad. A minute well spent.
