Party for One

My first business trip has begun, and ended. THANK GOD. I had all these thoughts of fancy businss suits and beautiful men and tasty food and impeccable hotel rooms with a mini-bar -- oh, how I was wrong. Well, not on all of it. Sure, some people wore expensive looking suits with colorful ties. And, there were a couple of pretty people to look at, but all over the age of 40, of course. Now, as for the tasty food and comfy hotel rooms - those were a treat. 

I've never gotten over the concept of how much money there is floating around this world - I really don't know if i ever will. It seems outrageous to me that my salary is - literally- next to nothing. However, the second I embark on a 'business trip', everything is expensed. EVERYTHING. Martini lunches at Hooters, five-star dinners at steakhouses, bottles and bottles of wine. These people LOVE to eat. I don't mind it at all, don't get me wrong. It was more than amazing - but, I realized a few things: 

A meal is more than a meal - it is the company you share it with. I'd learned this before when I travelled abroad in Spain. At my Senoras house, sitting down to a four course meal every night was a way of life - but it wasn't to eat. It was to get together, to share our days, to share our thoughts. Its where we had some of the best bonding. We sort of lose that in the U.S., amongst all the fast-food places. 

Most of the people I ate a meal with on this business trip were interesting; some of them had great things to say, great advice to give. One guy inparticular - Joel - I got to share almost all of my meals with. He and I travelled together in my car, and so in addition the meals, we had alot of time to get to know each other. He was very COOL--  as much a business associate my dad's age can be. He talked to me about moving in with his wife after knowing her only two weeks, about why he could never work for my boss but thinks its the best thing ever for me, and smoking pot.  Another guy was raised in Indiana, and had only come to the convention to get away from the chaos in his hometown, resulting from Hurricane Ike's rainwaters that flooded his street and his entire house. Losing almost everything in the house he had grown up in, he had come to the convention knowing that it would better occupy his time than sitting in a rowboat in his street, looking helplessly at his house, would do him.

These people, along with many others, are so great because they introduce you to an outside world, while simultaneously giving you a rare chance to truly appreciate the people in yours. 

Sure, swanky hotels are really great, and 50-dollar bottles of wine are truly delicious, but what is any of it if you can't share it with the people you love? 

Just another business trip.