The Friendly Challenge

I have a challenge for anyone reading this.

I had a conversation with a friend the other day about politeness. Basically, we concluded that being polite all the time, or extending common courtesy to strangers, is easy and can yield pleasant results.  Does this image of a singing hamster make you smile?

Well, you could have the same effect on people around you.

To some of you, I'm preaching to the choir - you're the kind of person who greets every retail clerk with a smile and maybe even makes small talk while they fold your new shirt. As a former retail slave myself, I can affirm to you that we really appreciate this. You don't have to ask us for our life story or tell us about the last movie you saw.

However, just talking about simple things like weather or local businesses makes the daunting tasks fly by, and is personally gratifying. I'll probably never see you again - and that's fine! But for that moment, you made my day much more pleasant, and hopefully I did the same for you.

For all you Loyola students reading - take this challenge to the Rambler Room. I know, some of the workers there aren't Mr. and Mrs. Sunshine. But think about it - would you be? They work hard for hours. The place is open from morning til morning and I'm willing to bet a thousand people walk in and out every day. Not to mention, swiping a card over and over gets kind of old. Just smile and say, 'thanks!' That's it! If I had a dime for every time I saw a student just slam their food down and hold out their card without saying a single word, I could upgrade my meal plan. Give a simple 'Hello' and a 'Thank you so much, have a great day.' If they don't respond... at all... then at least you tried on your end. Chances are one of these days, they'll need that friendliness.

I've made some of my best friends by casually chatting and being friendly. In fact, I met my favorite Loyola girl by talking about how to make waffles at the waffle maker in Simpson. That casual chat lead me to one of my best friends and someone I couldn't live without!

=  Friends.

So for at least one day, use your manners and maybe even go out of your way to be nice to a stranger. I'm not talking about going up to a random person and singing "Oh Happy Day." But a little friendliness really does go a long way.

Just think about it.

Comments

[mr isaacs]

that's one singing hamster!