Have you ever been somewhere for only a short amount of time, yet left with a really huge opinion of the place?
This could happen in a variety of situations like restaurants, airport layovers, stopping to fill up your car with gas in a small town, etc.
I can think of a couple times that I’ve had experiences like these. Like I was in a restaurant once and the cook walked out of the kitchen and passed my table. It smelled like he hadn’t showered since the ’80s. I won’t eat there now.
Another thing I can think of is a basketball rival in high school. I thought that all the kids from that town were idiots from playing against them a few times. Their fans were very insulting, like way more than I’ve ever seen in a high school sports environment.
That person who you see walking around like they are lost… Yeah, well you not only have the chance to be nice and help them find where they are going, but also to create their potentially lifelong perception of your town, state or even country. It could also be an opportunity to change their current bad perception formed from previous experiences. You have the power.
I will be living in a popular tourist destination here in Maine for the whole summer, and one thing I really want to focus on is being as helpful as possible to people who are visiting.
Don’t underestimate the importance of doing the right thing. It could have a much bigger impact than you think.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Great goal for the summer, Nate! I used to work at Disneyland and I would watch other people (employees) unknowingly shatter dreams with some silly thing they said or did that they were unaware was having any effect.
You never know what influence you have on people’s experience, and that doesn’t mean you should be walking on eggshells all the time, but just being aware of yourself and in general contributing to a positive environment is a great start!
“Could mortal lip divine
the undeveloped freight
of a delivered syllable -
T’would crumble with the weight.’
Emily Dickinson.
You are so right – and it applies to emails, phone calls, blogs . . . the lot! Let’s all try to create empoering perceptions! Thanks, Nate, enjoyed this blog and will now click the ‘RSS’ button ;o)
@ andi – Disneyland must have been an interesting place to work! And yup, walking on eggshells is not necessary, but just being positive and maybe thinking ahead a little bit before you do/say something can go a long way. Thanks :-)
@ michele – It applies to just about everything, you are right! Glad you subscribed too, good to have you around. And thanks for sharing the little poem, that was so darn enjoyable.