In the City – Day 2: Just Say Hello

Take a read of Proverbs 15 and you’ll quickly learn the correct way to be a human being. Seriously. If there is one thing I’ve learned working at shows is that you HAVE to treat people how you want to be treated. You have to be nice. You have to smile. You have to treat the person you’re talking to as a person not an object in your way or stealing your precious time.

I have a huge amount of favor when I’m here at Javits. Favor that no one has ever heard of. The catering company that messes up everyone’s orders and gives attitude to, gives me their cell phone numbers in case I need them immediately and brings my staff fruit and chocolate for free. The Javits cleaning staff are my friends – they’re seriously the funniest ladies I’ve ever met and I bet a lot of people don’t know that. The electricians request to work with me because I don’t yell at them. I get to hang out in back offices of event coordinators just because I take the time to get to know them. And to be honest, I really love the people that I work with when I’m here.

I always thought it was God putting me in these amazing situations but I realized last night that maybe I’m not giving myself enough credit. My eyes were opened to how the average person/white collared worker treats other people that are “below them.” I realize that many people complain and re-call in orders rather than just waiting for them to come and then thanking them for doing it the way you asked. I realized that people boss around and give unnecessary attitude to cab drivers rather than understanding that maybe they didn’t understand what you were asking them to do. And I realize that a kind smile, a small thank you and a wave can go such a long way. It’s absolutely unbelievable.

And for the record, I’ve also learned that not every guy that says hello or is kind to me is trying to hit on me. I think there are so many cases that make us girls uncomfortable that we start to automatically assume this is the case. But this morning I was in Europa Cafe and their MALE staff was just genuinely nice to me. And to others. And I had the opportunity to ignore it and hand them my money but I chose to smile back and say good morning. And let me tell you, they were happy to have someone be nice back to them.

So give it a try. Be nice today. Give a smile to a person you don’t know. Chances are, it’ll bless you even more than it blesses them.