Monday, May 23, 2005

Everyone has a story

I make my living telling other people's stories, from the family who flies a hot-air balloon to the family who lost a son in Iraq to the man who makes his own fiddles to the woman who was once the national spelling bee champion. Everyone, no matter how significant they think their own tales are, has an interesting story to tell.

The other day I was driving down a local highway when I saw a black man in a cowboy hat, a cane in one hand and a jug of Wesson oil in the other, trying to cross the road. What's his story? Where did he come from and where is he going?

I was in another city the other day, one of the many I cover in the West Alabama region, and riding behind a red mud covered Jeep Cherokee I spotted the words, written in finger, "Wash me" and "We love you, Daddy." Who is this man? What is his job? How old are his children and what are their interests?

Let's take this discussion to the realm of high stakes poker. Consider that a former Miss Teen Oklahoma, a Vietnamese refugee, a cattle farmer from Alabama and a Harvard law and MIT engineering grad all travel the tournament circuit, going from city to city hoping to strike it rich. What is it about the game of poker that has attracted such a diverse group of people to its ranks?

It's a story I begin to tell in 30 days. I can't wait.

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