I believe that the ear is an overlooked body part. I constantly hear people compliment each other on their eyes and faces, but I never hear someone say, “Oh, what nice ears you have,” except in Little Red Riding Hood, of course. However, beauty isn't only skin deep. Regardless of their appearance, ears are far more significant on the inside than the outside. All ears contain a drum, an eardrum to be exact. It's a drum that beats to the sound of a voice.

I believe that, despite its miniature size and hidden form, an ear drum is the most potent drum out of all the drums in the world. It is smaller than the base drum the marching band strikes and quieter than a drum set clashing on a concert stage, but it is the most powerful. I believe the ear drum creates the rhythm of life, the beat of change, the cadence of feeling.

I landed my first job at T.G.I. Friday's the summer of 2009. Work was new and exciting, that is, until I learned that my responsibilities consisted of merely standing at the front door in order to open it for customers. Regardless, during my first day on the job, I successfully opened the door for my first customer. Careful to open the door as wide as it could go, I said with my cheesiest smile, “Hi, welcome to Friday's!” What was the customer's reply? “I'm fine thanks,” as she briskly walked by. Excuse me, what? This woman's lack of listening skills actually struck me as quite humorous, yet rude. I shrugged it off, though, and continued to open the door for customers. However, I quickly noticed that customer after customer continually answered my unasked question. It became a game of mine to count how many people a night said “I'm fine” in response to “Welcome to Friday's”.

I was soon forced to change my “Welcome to Friday's!” verse to “Hi, how are you?” because, regardless of what I said, that's the way people answered me. My whole experience with these customers seemed a little bizarre, but I didn't really faze me until one man entered the restaurant. He was your average Joe, a middle-aged man, a dad most likely. I opened the door for him and asked in my usual way, “Hi, how are you?” I expected this man to be the typical consumer who sprints in the door without so much as blinking an eye in my direction. Instead, he stopped in his path. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “I am fine; thank you for asking! How are you? What is your name?” I saw right then and there the power of listening. This man sent a pulse of unexpected feeling throughout me. I felt important; I felt I existed; I felt I was still me behind the big, T.G.I. Friday's door.

It takes one kind of person to speak, but another to listen. The man I met in the restaurant gave me a chance to be someone in an atmosphere where it was my job to blend in. A stranger allowed me to clearly see that a rhythm is started by a single drum beat, but the only way to hear that rhythm is to really listen. In life, an eardrum beats to the sound of a voice. I believe that truly listening starts a rhythm that can allow one man to listen to another man's problems, and enable them to collectively create a solution. I believe that truly listening to one another creates a chain reaction of listening and can prevent a divorce, save a friendship, even save someone from suicide. It creates a pace that may not change the world, but it surely can change a single person. So, regardless if ears are big and hairy on the outside, I believe all ears set in motion the rhythm of life. I believe that the importance of listening should never be forgotten.