This website is created by Brooke Allen who is a guy born in 1952 when “Brooke” was considered a boy’s name. By 2022 he has been on over 20 cruises where he has met hundreds of people.
You can read about him at BrookeAllen.com
Q&A
Q: Brooke, can you tell us why you started Humans on Cruises?
A: When I was a young man in the early 1970’s I hitch-hiked all over the country. I hitched more than 25,000 miles and visited every state except Alaska and Hawaii. I heard hundreds of people tell stories from their life and I learned so much. It made a lasting impression.
Q: Can you give an example?
A: Sure. In August 1972 I was given a ride from Minnesota to North Dakota by John, who was then seventy years old… the same age I’ll be this October fifty years later.
Although when I met him, John was an inventor, in the 1920’s he worked as a bootlegger, transporting alcohol from illegal stills to customers. He was always in trouble with the law.
In 1933 prohibition was repealed and he became unemployed, so he got a job as a drill press operator in the factory. The work was boring. He kept his mind active thinking about ways the equipment might be improved. It took him three years to get up the courage to speak to the factory owner
“May I ask you a question,” John asked.
“You don’t need permission to ask a question. Just ask,” the owner replied.
“May I make a suggestion?”
“You don’t need permission to make a suggestion, just make it.”
John described a few ways he thought the drill press could be improved and asked the owner if he thought they would work.
“How should I know,” the owner said. “Let’s try your changes.”
Some of his changes worked and some didn’t. After reconfiguring the equipment John went back to work.
“What are you doing?” the owner said. “I can have anyone work this drill press. You think about how you can improve everything in this factory.”
So, that’s how John discovered he was an inventor. For years he had been breaking the law and didn’t think about it. Then it took him three years to get up the courage to talk to the boss about how he could make something better.
“What’s the lesson,” I asked John.
“Nobody can give you permission to do the wrong thing,” John said. “And you don’t need permission to do the right thing. So, the question is never one of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ but of ‘right’ or ‘wrong.'”
That story has stayed with me my entire life and it has informed everything I’ve done, both personally and in business. I am so grateful to John for having told me.
Q: Cool story. Why collect stories on cruise ships?
A: It seems like people don’t have time for each other any longer. But on cruise ships they have time, especially on sea days. Grandparents will tell me a story they wish their grandchildren could hear but they haven’t gotten a chance to tell them yet.
Q: What makes for a good story?
A: A good story has a beginning, a middle and an end.
In John’s story, the beginning was about being a bootlegger breaking the law. The middle was about getting up the courage to suggest some improvements. And in the end he discovered he was an inventor.
And good stories have a point.
The point of John’s story was very explicit… no one can give you permission to do the wrong thing and you don’t need permission to do the right thing.
Q: Aren’t a lot of people’s stories boring and pointless?
A: That’s not what I found from all those years of hitchhiking. What I found is that if someone is motivated to tell a story then there is a point.
The problem is that many people don’t know how to tell a story. Often they keep going past the end. Or they bury the point in a bunch of irrelevant details. Often the point is buried so deep they can’t even see it themselves.
Q: Can you give an example?
A: Sure. Frank picks me up on westbound I-70 outside of Topeka. He had a big fight with is wife back in St. Louis and he just needs to get away from her. He’s been on the road for 5 hours. He agrees to take me to Denver, which is another 8 hours at least.
After listening to the story of Frank’s life for a few hours I ask if I can summarize just to see if I got it right.
“In the beginning,” I say, “you married your high school sweetheart. In the middle you had two children who have now left home. In the end you are leaving home too. The point of the story is that she is a horrible person. Do I have that right?”
Frank was silent for a long time and I was afraid he had become angry with me.
“I’ve got to let you off here,” Frank said as he pulled off an exit ramp. “I’ve got to go back and apologize.”
Q: Wow.
A: Yea. The thing I learned is that often I don’t even have my own story straight. I’ll walk around with a story in my head that has no basis in reality. It’s not until I tell it to someone and get their honest reaction that I get back on track.
Q: What do you want to do with the stories you collect?
A: If after telling their story people are willing to share, then I will put them on this website for the world to read them. Perhaps even collect them into a book. If people want, I can include their picture and their real name or we can anonymize the story so people won’t know who is telling the story.
I hope that people will not only find the stories inspirational but will also decide to take the time to share their stories with family and friends.
Humans on Cruises 