as a writer, sometimes my job isn't to write at all. sometimes my job is simply to listen.

today i am writing articles for my harley-davidson client. we do a really nice newsletter that features lots of customers and their riding stories. it's like dessert for me.

the main thing i am always concerned about when calling customers for their stories is that i don't want to bother people when they are busy. i make sure and tell them it will only take a few minutes...and then we start to talk.

the first guy was in his 60s and really just needed to talk. he bought his harley last month so he could take a cross country trip with his father's ashes this summer. his dad passed away on Christmas eve and this ride was going to be the man's way of honoring his memory. we talked about his dad and growing up in montana. we talked about his dad's last days and how hard they were. my friend on the phone cried a couple of times. i did my best not to cry back. i always try to end things on a good note, so we talked about the fancy new bike before i said good-bye. he didn't want to get off the phone. i asked him to email me a photo of him and his father. it's a wonderful picture of two men in cowboy hats, smiling into the sun.

the second guy was a lonely man who just bought a fancy new 2013 switchback. the story was supposed to be about his customer experience--and it will be. but MY story is about a guy who's wife left him, took everything he had and this motorcycle is the first step in building his life back. we talked a lot about starting over and all the new friends he'll meet on the road. the harley community is a brotherhood, i told him. he sounded relieved. then he told me he really can't afford the bike but he just needed it. i told him i understood.

my third story is about a sweet old couple in their 80s who just bought a trike--their 4th bike together. they were set up on a blind date 15 years ago by someone at the dealership and got married. they've been riding and in love ever since. they were talking to me poolside in florida and kept interrupting each other and laughing. we talked for 45 minutes.

so that's been my afternoon. now i have to write up these stories...but i wanted to share the REAL stories here.

aren't people great?