The Monday Motivator | Be Kind

| Photo by Hilltop Photo Co. |

* The Monday Motivator is a series meant to motivate, encourage, inspire and provide advice on real life stuff.*

Last week, I had an unpleasant experience at the post office. Not because the line was too long, which you would typically expect at the post office, but because of a rude interaction that hurt my heart.

I won't get into all of the details, but I will elaborate a bit to help support today's Monday Motivator advice. I was behind an older man in line who became offended when the sales clerk asked to see his ID because he was paying with a check. He was rude to the sales clerk, telling her he'd been coming there for over 40 years, and said he was a "doctor" and "would never come back here again."

The story ends in the parking lot with me telling the man he owed the sales clerk an apology, but I will stop there so I don't get off topic.

The sales clerk was doing her job. She was following protocol. And she never flinched when the man became irate. She even told him to have a good day, to which she received no response. 

When it was finally my turn to walk up to the counter, I immediately said "how are you today?" with a smile because I felt responsible for turning her day around. She didn't deserve what just happened. And at the end of my transaction, she even said "thank you for being so nice to me."

So here's this week's advice: Be kind. 

You know that saying we like to throw around that goes "you never know what someone is going through?"  Let's actually start putting that into play. 

This can be difficult. Sometimes you're checking out at the store and a worker obviously hates their job and takes it out on you. I know how frustrating that feels. But wherever I go, I always give the person a chance first. I start the conversation off on the right foot because I don't know what they've had to deal with all day. All week. All year. If they're having a bad day, I'm not going to add to it by being rude. I want to make it better by hopefully making them think not ALL people are bad.

If a person is still being unfriendly, just carry on with your day. But I can guarantee that 90 percent of the time, people will treat you with kindness if you treat them with kindness.

This is especially important with the holidays rapidly approaching. Stores and places will soon be overcrowded with people in a rush, and employees are dealing with PLENTY of rude and/or irate customers. Don't be that person.

Be the person who is kind. It's simple. 

You truly have the power to turn someone's whole day around. And that is a beautiful thing.

Spread the love,