Hey, it’s the holiday season! No matter what your theologic bend, this time of year brings festivities of all kinds, and you’re likely to be on the receiving end of someone raising a glass in a friendly gesture of slutation and celebration. Whatever the occasion, once you’ve carefully made sure to not spill anyone’s libation, be sure to take that brief moment to make eye contact with the celebrant.
‘Tis the season, you know, and even in a crowd of friends and family, it’s always a special gift when you can make that one-on-one human contact!
Okay, so you’re in your conveyance (car, truck, bike, etc), getting from point A to point B. As you’re approaching the block your next turn is on, you’re also thinking of points C, F and H thru L, and working out the logistics. You’re just on the verge of getting it to work out, when here’s your turn! Hit the brake and turn the wheel and off you go.
But just as your plan is falling into place, the part of your attention that’s been operating your vehicle interrupts with, “Hey, why’s that asshole honking at me? I just got out of his way!”
Now, you may know where you’re going, but no one else around you does. Turns out they’re also getting from one actionable item to the next. Go figure.
Be a sport, and give the others with whom you share the road in your 2500-pound death machine at least an even chance to survive your procession and stay out of your way by giving fair warning of your intended vector adjustments.
This is especially good for those who live in apartment buildings (or other hived dwellings) that provide laundry machines to their tenants. Not only will it help the appliance itself function more efficiently, it’s a quick and easy way to let your neighbors know you care about them.
As much as I want to get to know my neighbors better, I’d really prefer to get to know them in a more conventional manner rather than handling the fuzz, lint, hair, skin, and the like that is left behind after their dryer load is done. Blech.
As for your own dryer lint, if you’re worried it’s contribution to global warming, you might consider there are alternatives to simply throwing it away.
Bustling around a busy day, especially around the holidays, it’s easy to buzz through the routine parts of the day hoping to squeeze in everything else. Even when we’re not so busy, we seem to plow through the rut we’ve carved for ourselves, we barely notice some of the people who also routinely show up at this or that part of our consuming days.
People like the couple that always walk their dogs in front of my building every morning around 8:30, or the guy up the street who is always working on something in his yard around the time you go to work, or the middle-aged Latina woman collecting recyclables every Sunday morning, or that nice old couple with the library books at the coffee shop you go to every afternoon. You get the idea.
It takes only a few seconds to put on a quick smile and give a cheery salutation to one of Life’s Highway’s fellow travelers. And although you may never know how much you may have helped, never see for yourself the impact of your brief act, a cheerful word at the right moment can make a real difference in someone’s life.
Take 3 seconds to tell someone you don’t really know that you wish them well.