By Dale Avery
Recently, I was at one of our local restaurants with a friend catching up on life. While there, as I made my way to the restroom, I walked past a young man watching sports like I had been. I made a statement about a scene on one of the televisions he was watching, “Boy I love that Jonathan Quick of the LA Kings – in fact, I love goalies!”
The young man asked if I was a big hockey fan and I let him know I was. I asked him if he too liked to watch the boys on ice and he told me he was from Idaho and was in town to play hockey. He confirmed he played for the Bloomington Thunder, although I told him he looked way too young to be playing in that league. We chatted for a few minutes more about the team and the league which he seemed to be so proud to be a part of.I let him know my wife was from Minnesota, making her an automatic hockey fan, so we had been to a few games over the years but it had been too long since we saw the Thunder in action. I wished him good luck and told him I would be sure to come check out a game this season.
When I headed back to my friend to continue our evening, I told him about the great exchange I just had with this very mature young man. I told my friend that because of his enthusiasm and conversation that I would definitely attend one of the Bloomington Thunder games. No sooner had I said that, the hockey player was suddenly standing beside me. He said, “Sir, sorry to interrupt, but here are 4 complimentary tickets for any of our games. I hope you come out to check us out!” He handed me the tickets and walked away. My friend too was impressed with the young man’s demeanor. Not only did this man leave a positive first impression, but he came back and raised the bar even higher.
Those of us who have been around longer than this “young generation” have had the conversation about the effects of social media and the lack of conversation we sometimes get from our kids or from inexperienced employees we interact with shopping around town. Hope is definitely not lost! There are young people in this town that want to be engaging and respectful. If you have a few grey hairs like me, be an example to the youth – take five minutes to strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know. People my age are just as guilty of staring into their phone or being unable to resist the urgency of electronic responses. Talk to someone you are sitting by or standing in line with. You never know where the conversation might lead. Thanks to my new friend and Bloomington Thunder forward August VonUngern-Sternberg, I will be enjoying the action on the ice. Good luck this season boys!
Dale Avery, CPCU, is the assistant vice president – Enterprise Services at State Farm® Corporate Headquarters in Bloomington, Ill.
Avery began his career with State Farm in 1982 as a personal lines underwriter in Lincoln, Nebraska and assumed his current position in 2006. Avery, a native of Missouri, received his bachelor’s degree from Central Missouri State University. He earned his CPCU in 1991.
Dale resides in Bloomington with his wife, Laura and their two daughters; Megan and Jenna.
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