Taking the good with the bad

Sometimes it's a lot of fun being in the car with Karl.  He likes a good assortment of classic rock'n'roll, so we usually end up cranking the volume on the stereo and having fun driving to/from school, and appointments, and haircuts, grocery forays, etc.  Sometimes, though, he would rather talk about games (ugh) he enjoys playing online, or those 'one-players' on his PC (yes, there's a difference between the two...and no, I won't explain it).

He understands that I have no understanding of the games he goes on about, but that doesn't stop him.  Nope, it actually serves to expand the conversation to include all precursor information so that I will understand all that I did not prior to the beginning of the conversation.

"Save me," I mouth to a passing motorist. 

I will listen, I will nod, I will 'hmm' and 'huh' at appropriate moments, and I will concentrate on my driving so as not to glaze over and send us both into a ditch or guard rail.  I am considerate that way.

Sometimes I can steer the conversation away from game mania and find another topic he can relate to enough to make it worth both our whiles.  Not always, but something in the line of 60-65% of the time I am successful.  Pretty good, I'd say.

The radio is my friend.

I especially like when a tune plays that stumps him.  He can pretty well narrow the groups down to an accurate assortment of two or three, and his choices are thoughtful and reasonable given the sound of the music, the instruments, a certain beat or confluence that can sound familiar to him.  Karl makes me proud in this regard.  He likes the musical sound, listens to the lyrics for the sake of the song (and the possible story they tell), and has learned an appreciation for music that was still musical - before the late eighties and disco developed into Prince and rap and ugh [shudder].

Karl has even introduced me to a new genre music that I love to listen to - and oddly, it's an 'electric' version of big band-sounding music. We both like the big band sound, but his addition to my music repertoire is a welcome one. 

Thank goodness for iPods and CDs, that's all I have to say!

Enjoy your drive time.