How are you?

     You know what one of my pet peeves is? It really bothers me when someone is walking towards you, you said "hello" and they walk by and completely don't acknowledge that you exist. A close second is when you said "How are you?" and people don't answer at all. Realistically though, most Americans (not sure if this is an international thing) will just answer "fine," no matter how they're doing.  Today I was blessed with brutal honesty by someone I have known as an acquaintance for a few years.
     I saw this person and asked how they were doing and they answered by telling me they weren't really doing too well. Not really expecting this I said something like "Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that." After a few minutes he approached me and really opened up, explaining what was going on in the life of himself and his family. (Now, on a side note, anyone who really knows me will know that one of my biggest personal quirks (obsessive compulsive tendencies? annoying traits? lol) is that I CANNOT be late. If there is a real emergency, I can somewhat handle it but I really hate when people are habitually late and I would rather be 2 hours early than 1 minute late. Anyone who knows my husband will know that he is always late. God has a cruel sense of humor.. :)  So, here I am, headed from 1 place to another when this conversation occurs. )  At that moment I realized how rare this occasion was. How often do we have people, especially acquaintances, who really tell us what's going on? People who are really joyful about something going on in their life or struggling with things. How different would the world be if we just honestly listened when people opened their hearts to us? How much of a difference would we make if we showed kindness to someone who might desperately be needing it? How many acquaintances do we know are really going through things when their life looks "fine" from the outside?
     Thank you God for the glimpse inside someone's life and the fact that they trust me enough be able to be that personal with me. I have thought about this person all day and I think I will be thinking about their family for a while. It took 5 minutes of my time to be a friend. I hope I remember that the next time I make being on time more important than a relationship.