It has a occurred to me that I have been sounding a bit cynical lately.. thanks Mom for pointing this out. I don’t mean to be that way.. it just comes out. Honesty sometimes borders on anger or cynicism… I will continue to be honest and open, trying to leave out the ‘dark side’ of my observations as much as possible… if i can.

So, here’s the experiment. Have you heard about the urban legend that people in colder climates are thought to be generally colder when it comes to interpersonal communication? Meaning, they just don’t like to talk to people.. or may not be very friendly.

let’s do our own experiment.. I tried this yesterday. It’s pretty interesting. This is the how it works…

Go out of your way to be the friendly person… I know, you may have to leave your comfort zone a bit.. but try it. I like to think of it as “messing” with people… (Bill, Tracy, Jon, Saunie, Paul, Mike, Me… you know who you are.. you’ll like the ‘mess’ with them angle)

You be the one to say “hi” to a random person and watch their reaction. People you pass on a neighborhood walk, shopping, anywhere there are people.. you be the friendly one and watch their reaction. I was surprised…

Let’s have everyone do this through the weekend, or just today if you have short term memory loss (any boarders, surfers or radio people in this category).. and log your results. Add it to the comments on this blog.. make it look like this;

 

Salt lake City – 10 greetings —

3 positive

5 ignored.. (4 looked the other way)

 

This was my actual experience yesterday. It became a game after the first two.. I saw a couple on their porch having a smoke, they looked at me, so I said.. “hi, how’s it going..” They immediately looked at the ground and their roof as if I wouldn’t notice that they obviously didn’t want my friendliness.. I was shocked.. but kept greeting people on the walk and found friendly people along the way.. not many though.

Think of it as paying it forward in positive greetings. The law of averages would dictate that you should see more positive than negative over time, or at least 50/50..

Ground rules:

– Doesn’t count with co-workers.

– Doesn’t count at any service business (i.e, restaurants, stores, brothels)

– Doesn’t count with anyone you already know.. family, neighbors, dogs, mailmen, hot moms at daycare.

– A wave DOES count. (no response or middle finger both count as negative response)

– Pass it on….

 

I noticed that it was kind of fun to mess with them, and to see how uncomfortable they get when someone is nice.. why? Why not.. Here’s an opportunity for a little karma banking..

 

Go for it.. and log it in the comments.