When I was in college many years back, I pledged to always maintain the ability to talk to everybody. It is perhaps not a new observation that differences in the educational journey can propagate into differences in the professional journey possibly to different stands, views and opinions. And it is also observable that people tend to form groups with people like them. Now the educational background may not matter if there are other common interests like sports or a volunteer organization, a common religion exercised in the same church community or a professional organization that brings people together who are jointly working in a certain field. It could be even a shared political interest. In political discussions there is references to blue-collar workers and white-collar workers – even though the dress code may no longer be the distinction in our times. My pledge was triggered by a disagreement between my father – an office manager – and my sister who at the time had just finished her professional school as a tool maker and was working in maintenance at an electronics factory. In one conversation she dismissed him insultingly as a desk jockey, here lamenting his lack of knowledge of practical affairs on the factory floor and not agreeing with his assessment and guidance for a solution to the problem at hand. (It shall be noted here that the German term for desk jockey is way more insulting than the English translation). Clearly their work environments could not have been more different. But I thought that this difference should not prevent a constructive dialog. One of my first practical opportunities to exercise my pledge to interact with a person of a different educational background was a 6-month cohabitation in the dormitory of the company I interned for as part of my college track. My roommate was a technician for high-tech chip assembly equipment. I was a few months away from graduating. We became good friends and are still in touch after me and my family moved away long time ago. I want to be careful in my self-assessment of how I have done since. The approach I usually take in talking to everybody is anchored in listening, asking questions and taking an interest in their life. In most cases that leads to a mutually beneficial exchange and to next steps as the circumstances call for. Last week I had an encounter where I stalled in my pledge. We were riding the streetcar with our grandson right through downtown Portland. It is no secret that there are a good number of homeless people in the downtown area – usually we see them from the car, bike or when walking. Perhaps the streetcar is insofar different, that you are confined to a space that you cannot leave unless the streetcar stops. First an older couple with physical impairments walked in and their appearance indicated that they were not well off. I observed them from a distance and when they intended to leave, I helped to initiate the extension of the disability ramp, and they nodded thankfully. Later new passengers entered, and they looked different and talked differently than the other passengers. They were unfortunately also discernable by the smell that emanated from them. Among the unusual things they did in full display on the streetcar was a women taking her underwear off and a couple sniffing a white substance. And sitting right there a feeling of anxiety and uncertainty started creeping up inside me – perhaps emphasized by the presence of our grandson and his uninhibited approach to asking questions of us and any bystanders – questions that we would usually answer for him. What would I say, what would I ask and what would I do? I did not have to find an answer to these questions right then – they got off the streetcar shortly thereafter and while one woman asked for five dollars she did so in passing and did not even bother waiting for a response. So, while there was no immediate need to engage, the recognition that I did not know what to say surprised me in light of my pledge. Certainly, general friendliness and kindness would surely have been a starting point, but I would lie if I did not admit that there was an apprehension overall to engage in the first place. I don’t have an answer still and am continuing to think about it.