I find it hard, or maybe its weird, to believe so few people these days take the time for the little niceties that make others feel human & noticed. I was raised to a large part by a fairly intolerant grandmother. There were some things that were just expected & if they didn't happen, then there would be hell to pay. Among those, was being courteous, cordial & polite. She wasn't great at being cordial, but she was a master of being curt while maintaining social appropriateness.
It doesn't kill you to do the little things like:
- Holding open doors
- Saying Please & Thank You
- Smiling at someone & making eye contact
- Genuinely asking someone how their day went
These things aren't difficult, but most people don't seem to do them anymore. In the morning, I usually ask my roomie how she slept. If she has appointments, I ask how they went. I'm not trying to snoop I'm giving her an opening to say what she wants to about the matter. If she doesn't want to say anything, she's not required to, but knows someone asked.
She recently told me, my practice of inquiring into her well being was not something she'd encountered until living with me. That she'd realized what an impact it had made in her daily life. She was appreciative someone cared enough to ask & listen to her reply.
My roomie has always lived with someone & yet no one ever thought it important enough to ask how she was or how her day had gone. I find that insulting. Everyone deserves to be noticed, to be heard & acknowledged.
So when you choose to open a door for someone, give them a pleasant greeting or whatever other little nicety you may undertake, remember this. That brief moment of contact may be all that person gets that day. It may very well have been the only contact they've had in a long while. That slight bit of effort & time you spent on them, may mean the world to them. It may be the only thing that gets them through the day.
Cya...
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