Friday, December 21, 2007

A little game

Shopping this time of year makes me crazy. Everyone is in a hurry. The people who work in the stores are exhausted. There's too much traffic. I'm not the most patient person by nature, so I sometimes try to do things to amuse myself to keep from turning into the Grinch.

Yesterday I played a little game. I wanted to see how many people I could make smile and/or wave at me while I was in my car. (I briefly considered seeing how many people I could make jump frantically out of my way, but I don't think Bethany would have let me.)

I am usually pretty good about letting people cross in front of me, pull out into traffic, etc. But I discovered that when you do that and give them a big smile, almost everyone smiles back. They don't just hold their hand up in a quick wave of acknowledgment. They smile! There was only one person all day who didn't smile at me. Bethany and I decided that--from the way she looked--she was probably on her lunch hour and preoccupied with everything she needed to accomplish in that short time period, so we cut her some slack and didn't run over her.

3 comments:

Elephantschild said...

In an odd way, I kind of like going out in the crazy rush. The people- watching is priceless, and it's fun to be nice to the retail people! Last week I eavesdropped on a Dad and son pair picking out jewelry for Mom - adorable!

My caveat of course is that I'm not shopping with my five year old. Then terror of her being lost and crushed in the melee overshadows any fun I have by being out in it!

Jane said...

The people watching is awesome. :)

I also really enjoy being nice to the retail people. I worked retail for a long time and people can really be nasty to them!

Jennifer said...

That's a great way to handle a stressful situation. If my shopping weren't already done, I might try that. Next year, I swear I'm going to be done with Christmas shopping by November! (Where have I heard that before?)