Ahhhh.... I love quaint drives.
Very occasionally, we take an afternoon and just drive. We have two rules,
- No Maps
- If we stop to eat, we will not go to a franchise restaurant. We will try something new, not something we can get near our home.
Of course there are other things we do. When we stop at a gas station or a store, we make note of the level of "friendliness".
Now, let me say I know NOTHING of small town America. I take my little drives. We stop at little shops or events, and we come home. We do not collect any scientific data based on friendliness, kindness or anything else I am about to comment on.
We don't exactly take notes, but we do remember. We stopped at two gas stations today. One clerk was not at all interactive. In fact, she did not even answer my daughters question. It appeared she was merely tolerating the situation. The other clerk was so kind. She went out of her way to speak to us when we entered. She also made polite and friendly conversation with us as we were paying. (If we stop to use a restroom, we purchase something.)
The same is true of stores. Today, we went to several "Antique" stores. Most were courteous. Two shop owners were not only not interactive, but really just ignored us. One shop owner was so kind and friendly. My daughter asked about a particular piece of furniture. It was amazingly large and there were hinges on the top. I told my daughter I thought it might be a piano. She went to the shopkeeper and asked and was told that it was indeed a grand piano (disguised as an enormous table) and she also very kindly told my daughter about some of its history. My other daughter asked about a particular purse. Again, this lovely woman took the time to talk to her about it.
Guess where we spent more money today?
Perhaps some people do not notice these things. Perhaps they just complain about the ones who are not as friendly.
I don't know.
I do know that I really really wanted to bring that piano home... Ahhh.. another day, another house, another lifetime.
Today was exactly what was needed. On a nice car trip with plenty of spontaneous stops, there is time to chat and discuss things without being interrupted. It is a good time to talk about the new things we are seeing, ponder what life is like in these small isolated communities.
Does friendliness matter? Of course it does. I can tell you that if you are interacting with the public, you not just be representing yourself. You are representing the company you work for, and sometimes, you are representing your community.
I tell my daughters this when we are out. I remind them that they may be the only example someone sees of their family, their school and their town, so they need to be polite.
Today, I reminded them of this more than once because somehow, they were both wearing T-shirts that clearly identified one of those "representation" issues.
Yes, I am sure there is more to those not so interactive people we spoke to today. I am sure that at least one of them was probably just having a "bad" day because they were working on a holiday weekend.
I won't see them tomorrow, or next weekend, or probably ever again. I was in their businesses only today.
No comments:
Post a Comment