People of Washington DC

I've met some more people this week... stories from Washington DC:

I was thrilled to meet three delightful Londoners who are participating in the Atlas Network think tank MBA program, but I feel awkward sharing stories about people who I'm now Facebook friends with. However, one of them instantly invited me to his birthday party which falls over my next visit to London, another bought a round for us all at the hotel bar, and the third helped me fabricate a creative story about the origins of my pocket watch necklace. Londoners are pretty much my favorite.

Zecharius is the friendliest barista I've ever met, working at Au Bon Pain. While I placed my order, he introduced himself. He proudly told me he came from Benin (West Africa), and that he's been in the states for five years. He is one year away from finishing his bachelors in civil engineering, a skill he knows he can use in any country in the world. None of his family is in the states, but he's not sure whether he will return or not once he graduates. I asked if he's always this friendly, and he said you never know who you'll meet. So true.

Ahmed is the slowest cab driver I've ever seen, frequently going under the speed limit. He's from Pakistan and works a full time job in Fairfax, but he also drives for Uber on the weekends. At the risk of being obnoxious, I kept asking him to speed up, explaining that I was going to be late for the opera. Although his English was perfect, he couldn't seem to understand the concept of speeding up. Nonetheless - with some prayer - I arrived at the Kennedy Center just before the opening number of La Boheme.

On an average week, I meet 5-10 people randomly, most of whom I will never see or talk with again, and 10-25 people in a professional capacity, most of whom I will encounter in the near future. These profiles are just a snippet of their many stories.