manny

he’s this kid at the skatepark. i’ve been watching him skate now for a few months, and i’ve seen something interesting happen. when we first started going to the park, my wife and I always commented on how annoying he seemed. he skated around the other guys and made a bunch of noises and trashed talked everyone he rolled by. he’s breaking two of the major unspoken rules of the skatepark.  one day, however, he was befriended by another kid named Preston. Preston’s a little older and skates quite a bit better than Manny, but the two of them really seemed to connect. after the two of them hung out for a few weeks a miracle seemed to take place…Manny stopped all of his annoying shenanigans. now he laughs and has a great time every time we see him. why? that’s easy. once someone noticed him and connected with him, there was no real need to keep up the “weirdo” act. he had been accepted. he had been validated. i bet we all have a little Manny in us, right? and, we could probably be a little more Preston to the Mannys in our lives, right? which do you tend to connect with, manny or preston?