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Hearing Potential

One weekend in May, we decided to rent a place in a sleepy town by the ocean lacking the kind of beaches that draw the tourists in. We "planned" the trip in under thirty minutes and got our Airbnb minutes before the host was going to stop taking requests for the following day. Magically, we got the place we wanted and arrived there late on Friday night. For a random and impulse booking, it was really nice - met our needs and was close to everything. Over the weekend, we took very long walks and explored the entire island by foot. On Saturday as we took our post-lunch stroll with the intent of taking a short nap right after, we ran into this billboard advertising a sunset cruise. That experience turned out to be the most important one of our trip because of our tour guide. 

An incoming college freshman, the young man was helping with the family business in summer like he always did. The family had lived on the island for five generations and his father was the town mayor. Everyone on that boat could see he was a politician in the making, the kind many of us might vote for. A couple of folks asked him about his career plans and no one was surprised to hear political science and pre-law. The young man left a strong impression on me - one that would stick long after the memories of the sunny days on by the sea had faded. I won't be surprised to see his name in the news someday - a Congressman from his district and maybe even more in time. 

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