Standing Around

I've started noticing that some of the best conversations don't begin with words. They begin because people happen to be standing in the same place. Think about it.

Around a campfire, people sit for hours telling stories they probably wouldn't have shared in a brightly lit conference room.

At a backyard barbecue, everyone eventually drifts toward the grill, even if they're not the one cooking.

In an office, people somehow end up lingering around the coffee pot long after they've finished pouring their cup.

Families gather around the kitchen island, even when there are perfectly comfortable chairs in the next room.

None of those places are remarkable. The conversations are. I wonder if those places all have something in common. They give people a reason to stand next to each other before they have a reason to talk to each other. The conversation doesn't have to start from nothing. There's already something to watch. Something to comment on. Something to laugh about.

I think that's one of the things I enjoy most about miniature golf. The course quietly gives people something to gather around. Players naturally drift to the edge of the green to watch someone line up a putt. Mild anticipation builds. Then someone misses. Someone makes an impossible bank shot. Someone offers advice that probably won't help. Before anyone realizes it, the conversation has already begun. Not because miniature golf is magical. Because people have always been a little more comfortable standing around something together.

The longer I've done this, the less I think the miniature golf course is the attraction. It's more like the campfire. Or the grill. Or the coffee pot. It's simply the place where people happen to find themselves standing together. Sometimes they stay for one round. Sometimes they stay for two hours. Sometimes they leave with a new friend. Sometimes they simply leave smiling. I've stopped worrying so much about which of those things will happen.

I think the campfire, the coffee pot, the kitchen island, and the first tee all have the same job. They aren't the conversation. They're simply where people find each other.