Every couple months, Grandpa gets his hair cut. He got in the list and we sat down to wait. Another gentleman walked in and got himself on the list, too. He took a seat beside us and he and Grandpa struck up a conversation.

My grandpa loves to talk to people and always does. That part didn’t surprise me.

It was just the nature of the brief chat that I thought was cool. The other gentleman was wearing a hat with World War II and Vietnam veteran on it.

Grandpa asked him where he had served.

“Germany, under Patton.”

You know this guy saw action. He was a machine gunner.

He said he and his buddy always had warm water for shaving because the belt was run through water to keep the belt cool. It heated up the water. Smart guy.

Several years ago, my husband and I shared an elevator at the Washington monument with an army veteran who had been a pilot during the Battle of the Bulge. He had some cool stories.

And I don’t know how many people I saw at the clinic had also served in the armed forces. They liked to tell me their stories.

The people around you have stories to tell. They may not have served under Patton or flown in the Battle of the Bulge. Maybe their coolest experiences are classified and they can’t tell you how cool their job is. Or maybe they just have the most imaginative children. Or their dog knows how to flush the toilet.

You never know what you’ll hear when you take time to listen to people’s stories.