Kindness

Yesterday while shopping at Wegmans I had an encounter with a woman over cheese and it made my morning.  

One of the biggest differences between the Rochester community and the Northern VA area is the demeanor of the public.  Shortly after moving, Wes and I quickly observed that people were just plain moody, most of the time.  Perhaps it was the maddening traffic, or the...um, traffic.  Either way, we were more likely to encounter random acts of rudeness, than kindness, while living in the NOVA area.  And while were not naive enough to believe that everyday here will be lollipops and butterflies, there does seem to be a CLEAR difference and we've already been reminded that acts of kindness far outweigh those of rudeness in our community. 

Take for example my cheese incident.  I hadn't even been in the store for 10 minutes before random strangers struck up pleasant conversation - the cheese woman was proceeded by a nice elderly man who chatted with me while we shucked our corn.  I typically shopped at the Wegmans in Fairfax every other week, or so.  I never once, I repeat NEVER, had a random conversation with another customer.  We lived there for 2 years!  And boy did I try - I'd make a stupid comment about the aisles needing stop lights, after almost running my cart into someone trying to cross that treacherous gap to the other side, or smile and try to talk about the freakin weather while waiting in the awkward space by the deli.  I would either get ignored entirely (which I preferred), or the miserable person would shoot me a nasty look continuing to go about their important shopping business.  The worst were the times when waiting in line behind a cute little kid in a cart; I'd try to make faces or play with the child and they would reach out and slap me!  Ok, that's a lie, but do you get my point?   

My point is, that life is more pleasant here - for us at least. :) 

Back during graduation season, George Saunders gave the convocation speech at Syracuse University. You may have already encountered this article on the web; it seems to be everywhere, but if not and you have a bit of extra time, it's worth a read.  His advice centers around kindness.  

You can read the full speech here.  

p.s. 

1. Me and the nice cheese lady share a love for Lorraine swiss.
2. Wes and I deemed the rude citizens mentioned above, as "DC Royalty."