Another Awesome Run

For our run last Tuesday we had a fairly large group of people show up (I think about 13 or 14). I was pleasantly surprised because our last few runs had been quite small groups, which is understandable with midterms quickly approaching.

I went on the route that goes by the pit (the area by t entrance with the newsstand next to it). We stopped to hand out sandwiches, and one of the females began asking some questions. I had been giving out sandwiches to other people at the time so I wasn't close enough to hear what she was saying but found out afterwards that she had wanted to know what school we were from. She had also shared that she knew someone who goes to Lesley. I think she shared more details but the people who had been talking to her didn't feel comfortable repeating what she had said because it was personal, and she hadn't wanted it to be repeated. While I'm glad that she felt comfortable enough with the two people she opened to, she also tested the boundary of when we need to end the conversation. When speaking with those two people, she asked one if she lived on campus, or if it was one she would know. The people talking to her didn't share any information with her, but recognized it was time to continue on with our route.

On the way back, we still had sandwiches so we stopped by the pit again. The woman was still there, and this time we stayed together and offered her another sandwich. She looked at everyone who she hadn't talked to earlier, mentioning that she knew someone at Lesley but couldn't say more. Then she turned to the people who she told more, saying something about them understanding why she couldn't tell us more. The conversation then shifted, and she asked where people were originally from. She seemed to want more of an answer then our vague responses of being from Massachusetts. To prevent the conversation from getting more personal, we said our good nights and headed back.

I'm always glad when people felt comfortable enough, or trust us enough to share a bit of their story with us but it's always difficult to recognize how much information is too much, and what the best way to gently leave the conversation.

Ginny