I love to travel. It's not just about the places you see or the things you do. It's also about the people you meet.
"Where are you from?" is one of the best conversation starters when you're traveling. That simple question just led to one of the most surreal experiences of my life.
My wife and I were on the ferry from Split to Korčula when a family sat down next to us, and we started chatting.
"So, where are you from?" the dad asked.
"Cleveland," my wife replied.
"But I grew up in Philly," I added.
"Philly? Me too," he said, giving me a fist bump.
"Where in Philly?"
"The Northeast."
"Same! Where did you go to high school?"
And that's when things got downright weird.
We didn't go to the same high school. As it turns out, he went to Central and I went to George Washington. But we both graduated in 1990, attended the same middle school, and discovered we have dozens of mutual friends. He even remembered my middle school homeroom number, a fact I had long forgotten.
Forty years after leaving Baldi Middle School, we finally became friends … on a ferry in Croatia. All because one of us asked a fellow traveler, "Where are you from?"
The world is a big place. Sometimes, though, it has a funny way of reminding us just how small it really is.
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Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.
EEOC Rescinds Longstanding Affirmative Action Guidance — via Employment Law Letter
The Big Ten: EEOC's new agenda — via Robin Shea's Employment & Labor Insider
NLRB Advice Memorandum Confirms Lawfulness of Non-Competes and Raises Questions About Separation Agreements — via Trading Secrets
Fired After 3 Hours: What a Fast-Food Owner's Viral Move Teaches Us About Training New Hires — via Suzanne Lucas, the Evil HR Lady
"The Cliques Aren't Going Anywhere" Is Not a Defense to a Hostile Work Environment Claim — via Eric Meyer's Employer Handbook Blog
Time to Talk about "The Rizz" — via Robin Schooling
The End of Independent Federal Agencies Will Change Your Business — via Harvard Business Review
Birthright citizenship: "We break no new ground today" — via SCOTUSblog
Let's talk about what your company discovered after an employee left — via Ask a Manager
Questions for Fathers — via The Chief Organizer Blog