tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347251.post5423098449414542180..comments2022-11-21T03:50:05.720-05:00Comments on What a long strange trip it is!: Just being.Samantha Shantihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10586759980410037672noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347251.post-14966383403956152142009-01-13T17:34:00.000-05:002009-01-13T17:34:00.000-05:00With the weather in single digits outside, I reall...With the weather in single digits outside, I really miss my bike right now, sitting in the basement, waiting for spring...<BR/><BR/>It's amazing how being friendly gets you remembered. I went to get an oil change the other day, with my car. I had only been to this oil change place with my wife's car, and it's been three months. The guy at the oil change place asked me if I'd bought a new car, because he'd only seen me in the gray one. I like to think it's because you treat people the way you want to be treated, whether it's the oil change guy, the guy at Blockbuster, your mail carrier or a waitress. Nobody is beneath anyone, and nobody deserves to be treated that way because of what they do.<BR/><BR/>I spent years waiting tables, tending bar, selling books and even picking fruit. You always remember the people who don't look down on you for what you do.alpharathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10399655031407319997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347251.post-74936904135831130862009-01-12T20:28:00.000-05:002009-01-12T20:28:00.000-05:00Thank you! I get odd looks quite often when I cal...Thank you! I get odd looks quite often when I call it EVOO, which is funny considering the fact that many of the folks on the Food Network call it that too. I've been calling it that for years, because honestly it's easier than saying Extra Virgin Olive Oil.<BR/><BR/>You know it's funny, people have been saying for years how rude folks are in Boston and New York, and honestly I've yet to see it. I tend to smile as my almost default facial expression when I'm not otherwise using my face so to speak. I make eye contact in a friendly, hi, how are you kind of way and feel life is too short to be suffering constantly. It's amazing how utterly contagious my smile seems to be.<BR/><BR/>Ironically enough I read an article in a Boston paper a few years back (when I still lived there) about how rude the US has become as a people, surpassing even the very rude French. In that article they talked about how it seems to have become a pattern. I'd say from what I've heard, there is merit to the contention, but like I say I don't really experience it much.<BR/><BR/>I really do think our attitude, our vibe, tends to impact first impressions more than most folks are even aware. So it can start things off on a bad footing even when we're not thinking of it. I try when ever I leave the house to take sunshine with me, and leave my own junk at home. Over the years it's caused folks to nickname me sunshine. I completely agree, if you are nice to folks, you stand a much better chance of them being nice to you.<BR/><BR/>In many ways it's my Mom's "Fault" she always said it doesn't take that much extra time or energy to say thank you, or treat people like they are important. She always said using pleasant thoughts and caring about how you make other people feel when you are around them isn't going to kill you, and makes everyone's lives better. She was right. So when I ask someone how they are, or say hello, or any number of other little things that are kinda automatic and have been rendered meaningless over time, I'm sincere about it.<BR/><BR/>You are so right, it costs nothing to be nice, and it does break patterns quite nicely.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for being a wonderful human being Veronique!Samantha Shantihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10586759980410037672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347251.post-36784786886401943352009-01-12T19:34:00.000-05:002009-01-12T19:34:00.000-05:00Glad you had such a nice unremarkable day!When I m...Glad you had such a nice unremarkable day!<BR/><BR/>When I moved to the mellow Wet Coast, I purposely started being nice people I dealt with, like merchants. I'm not sure why it was then, but I figured out that if you're nice to people, they tend to be nice back to you, and maybe both our days will be just a little better.<BR/><BR/>I've wondered if when people say that people are rude to you in New York or Boston or wherever, it might have something to do with falling into a pattern of rudeness. I think it's both possible and desirable to break that pattern. And it costs nothing.<BR/><BR/>Funny, we call it EVOO too. I've confused a lot of people when I use that abbreviation.VĂ©ro Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02895169022031921712noreply@blogger.com