When Ryan Conklin described the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), he referred to it as being like a lottery. Soldiers in the pool could be selected to return to active duty without warning that they were potentially next in line. For a soldier receiving notice that they had been recalled, it may appear to them that they were the recipients of a great deal of misfortune. Certainly in Ryan's case, with the timing of his recall, it appeared to be a major stroke of bad luck.However, there was one fortunate event related to Ryan's recall. After he had gotten the message over the phone from his brother Aaron, Ryan walked out of phone room at The Real World Brooklyn house still in shock and steeped with emotion, thinking about how devastating this experience was for his parents. Sadly, Ryan was away from his family and long-time friends and didn't have the kind of support that such people provide and that Ryan needed at that moment. The stoke of luck for Ryan was that of all the roommates, Scott Herman was the one that was there at the time to give him comfort.
As Ryan told Scott what had just transpired, Scott, as the kind of person that he is, was able to remain steady, but compassionate, focusing fully on what Ryan needed at the moment to deal with the situation. Scott didn't complicate matters by being emotional himself, or talking about how the news made him feel, but instead stayed squarely on trying to help Ryan. Using skills that served him well as a personal trainer, Scott supportingly engaged Ryan in conversation to find out, given the unique circumstance, what do you need, what I can say or do to help you. With such heart-felt consoling, Scott was able to lead Ryan away from tears to a more thoughtful state of figuring out what his next steps would be.
Would that we all would have a friend of the highest quality like Scott Herman.
