Today I went through our local McDonald's drive-through and thought to myself, neither one of those people smiled at me. The person who took my debit card for payment at window 1 barely spoke to me, he just said, "small fries and drink?" The person didn't even say anything after handing me my card or receipt. No thank you. The person at the 2nd window who hands out the order, said "Dr. Pepper" after handing me a Dr. Pepper and "the straw is in the bag" as they handed me the bag. Again, no thank you, have a nice day, or smile. As I drove off I blurted out that "a smile would have been nice." I didn't smile at them either.
The interaction made me think back upon other recent interactions I have had with people recently and not many of them have been positive. They weren't necessarily negative either. It makes me wonder, "where have all the smiles gone?"
Growing up as a kid in a small Arkansas town I remember people waving as they pass you in their car, or saying hi and smiling when you passed them in the street or at Wal-Mart. I remember McDonald's being a fun family place with smiling faces everywhere. Was life simpler back then, so it was easier for everyone to smile at each other? Maybe.
Life was simpler for me back then it seemed. I didn't have to worry about bills, a job, or even school until I was 5 years old. I smiled a lot as a kid and had lots of hope for my future. I was naive then and am beginning to think that I still am.
Things have definitely changed. Russellville, my hometown, has doubled in size since then. We have had a Wal-Mart for as long as I can remember and in three different locations. PetSmart, Belk, and Hobby Lobby all now reside in one of the locations. The other location was a National Home Center for many years but currently sits empty, waiting on its next big lessee. The third Walmart location is where our current Super Center is. Across town from that, Russellville also has a neighborhood market which the city battled for years to keep out.
It seems Russellville fights any business that wants to come here and that has led to slow growth in many areas, especially in the food service industry. Russellville lacks a great selection of restaurants, but we do have 2 Taco Bells and 3 McDonald's. That story is for another time though.
What I want to examine now is why people aren't smiling as much as they used to. Is it because with less population, it is easier to know everyone in your community? Possibly, but it's also possible for everyone to know too much about the other people in their hometown as well. The rumor mill in Russellville, Arkansas can be harsh and I try to stay out of it because I've learned 90% isn't true and the other 10% is just vile bullshit made up to destroy someone's character. I don't think our local rumor mill is why people aren't smiling these days.
I think people may have just forgotten to smile at other people. The reason could be that people are too busy smiling at their phones while taking pictures to upload to Facebook, Snapchat, or Instagram. Those smiles are real, don't get me wrong. I love it when a picture turns out perfectly and am glad to have captured that moment in time, but does that translate to not smiling at the real people standing right in front of you? Maybe.
Why then are people not smiling at one another anymore? I think it is because we get what we give in life. I have not been smiling at people first which is something I used to always do. Spending the biggest portion of my adult life in retail taught me how to automatically smile at a person when I see them. Here in the past year, I have gotten out of that habit.
I have been down on myself for the last several months after stepping away from real estate. I feel like I failed there, and I haven't gotten another job just yet. I have three opportunities for employment around the horizon and that has made for better days. I feel best when I am most productive and I don't have time to fret about the rest of my worries. I have a ton of worries, but most of them are tied to a lack of income and most will go away once I begin earning more money again. That is coming very soon, so for now I will just relax and enjoy the many blessing I do have in this life.
Today I am setting an intention point. I am going to go out and smile at people first when I see them. I bet they will at least smile back and if not at least there is still one smile left in this crazy world. Today and every day going forward I choose to smile first. My hope is that you will choose to smile first too!
-Ryan
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