acknowledge others at every contact

as I realize I’m mostly conscious of this goal when interacting with strangers…that when I speak with my close colleagues and friends I am focused on my aims. I’ve been told I give good gifts and ghost-write good letters, because I think I can imagine the world at those times from the point of view of the other. I am going to try over the next week to do this whenever I have a conversation with someone else, just for a few seconds or so, to see if it feels different from 1) the acknowledgement I’ve been trying to do, and 2) my usual way of interacting with the people familiar to me.

so that it’s not just the vacuous, “How are you?” to the clerk or waitress, but a relevant comment….also trying to develop assertiveness in the contact, as I notice that some sales people seem to associate friendliness with submissiveness/gullibility. I’ve been focusing on noticing people’s faces…their eye color, facial expression, name tags, something special about what they may be wearing, trying to imagine how they chose that blouse, those earrings, that belt…and then just smile in my appreciation rather than say anything about it. Of course, this does lead to my acknowledging good work more often, and to thanking people for providing services I appreciate (e.g. the local bookstore open till midnight on Dec 24th, so considerate to me, the shopper, but no doubt a long day for the employees).