Yesterday I conducted a social experiment.
It came about for two reasons. The first was that as I pulled up to the gym, John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High came on the radio. This in itself is weird – it is not the kind of music they usually play on George FM. I guess I’ve heard it before, but I don’t consciously remember it. What really got me is that I was completely hooked by it. I parked and sat there and listened until it finished. Something about it just made me feel at peace. I got out of the car feeling like I was going to have a great day. That got me wondering about how much control we have over what kind of day we are going to have.
There began the experiment.
I consciously kept a smile on my face. Not an irritating one (at least, I don’t think it was), just the kind of smile that makes people smile back. Like maybe I’ve told myself a joke, or just that I’m satisfied with what I have. I have always raved about the power of a smile, but it’s so easy to forget about.
So John was the first reason. The second was the result of a conversation I had with a friend last week. He mentioned that for some reason he always seems to end up in the supermarket checkout queue of Tina – the world’s grumpiest operator. And he is right – she is. I expect that being a checkout operator would have it’s moments, but surely 90% of the job is about customer service…?
I told him my strategy of dealing with people like that – just be really nice. It takes a pretty hard nosed person to continue to be rude if you respond with good nature. So I figured that the same approach would work with everyone – grumpy or not. You know how occasionally you have experience someone in your day that just makes you feel great? Imagine how good that person feels when everyone responds to them in that way?
So, the upshot of the story is that I had the most fantastic day. My face hurts, but I really did feel the love, as cheesy as that sounds. I’m definitely going to do it more often! It’s a shame it needs to be such a conscious choice.
Anyway, enough. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…
Smile more. People will fall in love with you.
As an aside, this morning when I arrived at the gym the radio was playing an interview with an *interesting* American man who has invented a way to take any old hat and turn it into a device that will stop aliens trying to contact you or steal your thoughts. I wonder what kind of day I’ll have today?
Blog of The Hawk 
This is a great example of why John Denver had to be “taken out”.(luckily, the conspiracy theorists haven’t caught on yet)
So that I don’t have good days?
You’re not just an idiot, you’re mean. 😛
One of the most insidious characteristics of this infectious disorder is that the victim often has no insight into. It is typical for the victim to feel a sense of peace and tranquility, no matter what the true circumstances are that surround them; they are oblivious.
It is a sad, sad state of affairs, indeed, and a problem which must be nipped in the bud.
It is a very well kept secret(until the conspiracy theorists become wise) that all career politicians(of all nations) are made in seven different underground laboratories, strategically spread out across the world, and one of the methods employed in their “conditioning regimen” is to expose them, during an eight week period, to John Denver classics which are administered through headphones, while the subject is held in restraints to a medical chair.
🙂 *cough* I mean 😐