Random Acts of Friendliness

A while back I read an article about a man who was concerned about the lack of social contact among many Americans. With the proliferation of social sites, texts, on-line role-playing games, and e-mails he was worried that people didn't know how to interact face-to-face any longer. He decided to do something about it.

For one month, he would greet EVERYONE he saw with a smile and a friendly greeting. He said it was very uncomfortable at first getting out of his comfort zone. But as he did this more frequently, it got easier. Not everyone was receptive to his random acts of friendliness, but most were.

I've thought about that article off and on over the past few months. I am not the most outgoing person in the world, but I decided I could at least smile at others.

After months of trying to keep a smile on my face, I decided it was time to take it to the next step--engaging in brief conversation. On Wednesday, I began phase two of my social experiment. I'm sure you are dying to find out how it went and so I am happy to satisfy your curiosity.

Now, I don't consider myself a threatening type of person. I don't have large tattoos and multiple body piercings. I don't have facial hair (thank goodness) or wear gang insignia. So, my experiment might not work well for others who, how do I put this tactfully, look a little more extreme.

On Wednesday with my hair looking much better than the day of the BIG storm, I ran several errands. At the first two stores, I kept my friendly greetings to the cashiers. I mean, they are paid to be somewhat friendly as they serve the public. At the grocery store I girded up my loins at the checkout line. I noticed the woman standing behind me only had a few items and I invited her to go before me. As she put down her four vegetables on the conveyor belt, I only recognized the tomatoes. Smiling at the woman I pointed to one of the unfamiliar vegetables and said, "I've never seen this before. What is it called?"

Her face lit up. In a heavily accented voice she told me the name of the vegetable. I couldn't understand everything she said but she explained that she put three of the vegetables with pork and made a delicious dish. She then confided that she had recently arrived from the Philippines. She told me that she was worried that she wouldn't like it in America but was happy here.

For two minutes I made a connection with someone I probably never would have met. It was fun. I'm going to keep reaching out with my own "random acts of friendliness."