Had a quick chat with a retired librarian at the bus stop that rearranged my brain

I was venting about feeling stuck in my job hunt in Austin, and this older lady just listened for five minutes. Then she said, "You're not failing, you're collecting information about what doesn't fit." That one line hit me because I had been tracking every rejection for 8 months without realizing I was learning what roles I hated. Now I adjust my applications based on those clues instead of getting mad. Has anyone else had a total stranger say something that completely shifted how you see a situation?

3 comments

3 Comments

wade87129d ago

Old people are basically life's cheat codes, they've been through all the dumb stuff we're stumbling through now. I got similar wisdom from a guy at a bus stop who told me "you can't steer a parked car" while I was complaining about being in a rut. Kinda made me want to punch him, but he had a point.

spencer_park2629d ago

Hold on, I gotta push back on this @wade871. I don't think old people are cheat codes at all. Most of the "wisdom" they drop is just stuff that worked for them fifty years ago when everything was cheaper and easier. Like my grandpa always told me to "just walk in and ask for the manager" to get a job. Tried that last year at three places and got told to apply online like everyone else. Their advice is usually outdated and doesn't fit how things work now.

charles_mitchell29d ago

That librarian had a good way with words. My own version of that came from a random guy at the auto parts store who told me "a dead end is still a step forward if you learn the road is closed." Helped me stop beating myself up over a side business that flopped. Sometimes the best advice comes from people who don't even know they're giving it.