Life can be a struggle, and people can be challenging. Granted, the good majority of people are like lovely flowers in our lives, who add beauty in all sorts of ways, but, let’s be honest here, some people are thorns who have the ability to pierce and drain the life right out of us. I believe that it takes just as much energy, and likely a lot less, to be pleasant as it does to be nasty. They say that some people are just miserable. How awful to be so unhappy that you seek to nastify (new word) the world on a daily basis.
OK, I get it. There can be tension in any type of relationship, whether personal or professional. However, I don’t think that tension should get in the way of common courtesy. I have experienced people looking the other way when I say, “Hello” to them. Has this happened to other people? What causes this behavior? There is a distinct difference between good manners and a deep relationship. To be polite does not necessarily imply anything other than politeness. It doesn’t mean we’re friends, or we agree, or anything outside of, “Hey, other human being out there in the world, I see you.”
Why is this so hard for some people? I guess it’s difficult for all of us at different times. Maybe my skin is too thin, and it comes back to those age-old clichés of, “You’re just too sensitive,” or “Don’t take things personally.” It’s a bit hard to not take a snide comment or being intentionally ignored personally, but should it be? Should we all have thicker skins? Ought I to be giving any weight at all to individuals who elect to be offensive rather than kind?
I can’t be other people. I can only be me. So, I’m going to encourage you to go out of your way to be polite to all people, the ones you like and the ones you don’t. I’ll do the same. But here’s the deal I’m making with you: we’ll only take the good responses personally, and we’ll flush the negative Nancies right out of our minds.
Here goes: “Hello to you, dear reader. I hope you have a great day!”
