Character

When I was in eighth grade one of my new friends and I decided to work together on a project. It got to be the day before it was due and things weren't going as well as we had hoped. We were working in my friend's basement, and he was getting more and more cranky - and less and less helpful - as we got into the evening. As it got later and there was still work to be done, my friend threw a tantrum and went up to his room, leaving me to finish the project with his older sister and his mom, both of whom had been helping on and off. I don't remember what the project was, but I sure learned a lot about my friend that night.

Returning to this century, my travel plans again today did not go as planned. Joe and I were traveling together. A two-hour delay in the first leg of our flight meant that we missed the connection in Detroit. Throughout the next seven hours it was impossible to get an answer about whether or not the late flight would be a "go" or be cancelled. Finally we left sometime after 9 p.m. and arrived at the hotel in Asheville shortly before midnight.

Does it count as learning something if you previously strongly suspected it was true? I'll put it this way, then: What I now know is that Joe is a really good human being.