My co-worker is obsessed with bats. I don't know exactly when it happened, but wow: they fell hard.
One week: regular conversations, or at least approaching regular. The usual detours, sympathetic complaining, mostly lighthearted, occasionally with actual work getting done in there somewhere.
And then, out of nowhere, bats.
All meetings must now by necessity begin with a short preamble on "bat facts". Details about these little critters are interspersed into chats throughout the day. I've seen pictures of many different types of bats, learned about echolocation in great detail, and heard stories about bats in the backyard, bats in boxes, and bats in attics.
Apparently there is a device that can eavesdrop on bat echolocation and can identify the type of bat based on the frequencies. Or something like that, because how it actually works seems like some real science. I had no idea that there was a consumer market for this kind of not inexpensive device. My co-worker now owns one, of course. Batty.
And do you know what? I love it. There's something refreshingly innocent about this kind of passion. Their interest in bats isn't borne out of any particular need or objective. Desire, sure, there's plenty of that. This is a kind of enthusiastic curiosity that I just don't see that much anymore, and especially not in other adults, and even more especially not in a work-related setting.
When someone is this excited about something - no matter what it is, or how much I actually cared about it before - it makes me want to listen. It makes me want to care too, to engage, and participate in whatever little thing has so successfully executed a hostile takeover of another grown human's imagination.
So talk to me about bats. I promise that I'm not annoyed, not even a little bit. Sure, maybe I started off amused, but now I'm here for it. Schedule a meeting just for bat talk, because whatever this is, it's spreading and I'm curious myself. Talk to me about whatever else you actually care about. Mix up the workday doldrums a little bit with those hobbies and that passion. Stay curious. Stay batty.
~nullish
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