Asking Questions

"What is the ultimate goal of your life?"

This is how she decided to break the ice on their first date. She knew what she wanted and didn't have time to waste. The twenty-five-year-old man sitting opposite her lost his composure for a bit. It was obvious this question hadn't been on the list he had expectedly prepared for. He was probably wondering why she hadn't asked him if he liked dogs instead...

"Don't you know?"

"I do. I want to be Tony Stark."

He hoped the Iron Man billionaire and his nervous laughter would save him from this quarter-life crisis, but she wasn't having any of it.

"Tell me. What do you really want from this life? I want to know."

He took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to reply with some sincerity, "I want to make a difference here. I want to get as many people as possible over the poverty line so they can get their shot at life."

She smiled, and her eyes turned soft. She felt they had made some progress and gone from idle banter to understanding. As if on cue, Jason Mraz's "I'm yours" started to play in the cafe, and he asked her if she liked this song. She nodded, and just like that, a moment was born. Their conversation continued as the humdrum of the coffee shop took over. I finished my coffee and was about to leave when I heard her ask, "Do you want kids?"

Sometimes we wait all our lives for strangers to ask us questions so we can then finally answer them for ourselves. And I wonder what they decided to make together.