I was at Boston Logan, waiting to head to India for the first time. I had lots of time to kill and was sitting at the bar at Boston Beerworks having a beer. An attractive woman, around my age, sat down next to me and just started talking, quickly sharing some very personal stuff.
I was really, really in vacation mode and didn't want to talk, certainly not about serious things. So I didn't talk. I listened. For 90 minutes. Nodding. And mostly not looking at her.
90 minutes later, she got up. She was crying. Her mascara was running down her face. She looked at me and said, "Thanks, you helped me so much."
It had nothing to do with me. It was never about me. It was about her. And she saw something new. Without technique. Without intervention. Even without a probing question.