Overheard a guy at the rock shop say 'granite is boring' and I almost lost it

I was at The Crystal Cave in Sedona last month, just browsing the local specimens. This guy next to me, holding a piece of pink granite, told his friend it was 'just boring, all the same stuff.' He had no clue he was holding a story of continental collisions and slow cooling over millions of years. It made me realize how many people see rocks as just pretty objects, not the literal history of our planet written in stone. Anyone else get frustrated when folks don't see the drama in the ground under their feet?

3 comments

3 Comments

john_dixon611mo ago

Ever try showing them a thin section under a cheap microscope? That pink granite @noahchen mentioned would blow his mind, seeing all the different crystals packed in there. Sometimes you gotta zoom in to see the action.

noahchen1mo ago

My cousin said the same thing about slate tiles last week, called it "basic gray rock." I had to explain the whole metamorphic process, how it used to be mud on an ancient sea floor. Some people just see the surface.

xena_anderson1mo ago

My geology professor always said slate tells a story in every flake. @noahchen, your cousin's comment reminds me how we often miss the deep time in everyday things. It's not just a gray rock, it's a whole chapter of earth's history.