A culture of kindness and connection

I don’t know about  you, but people are always talking to me. Complete strangers feel the need to chat with me.

• In Austria, for instance. I don’t speak German, and yet people felt comfortable enough to ask me for directions (yup, asking a tourist for directions :-)
• At Home Hardware I had the nicest conversation with the man who sold me paint.
• A mom struck up a conversation with me at the trampoline park, when I took my nephew to play.

My mom and sister report the same thing: complete strangers strike up a conversation at the grocery store, at the mall, at the post office. And they talk.

On my recent winter vacation I made it a point to talk to strangers. Small talk, nothing fancy or heavy. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because the place (Dominican Republic) is so different than here. People just naturally smile at you and say “good morning.”

So I ended up having lots of nice chats with complete strangers.

• Yomaira, who was throwing herself a “divorce party.”
• James and Jacquie were remembering Sally, who passed away in September. We toasted her.
• The bartenders who sang my dad a great birthday song.
• The guys from Ohio who were big Billy Joel fans.

It’s interesting how here in Canada we’ve always been taught not to talk to strangers, and in some cases, don’t make eye contact. I personally find that it’s a lot easier (not to mention nicer) to say something. Whether it’s helping out someone looking for an address, or offering to take a picture for a group of folks.

All this has made me realize how “on guard” we always are. Yes, I’m aware it’s a dangerous world out there, there’s a lot of sickos running loose, blah, blah. But something in me refuses to give in to living in fear. I’d rather try to be nice and perhaps helpful, and start off with a smile, instead of clutching my purse tighter and looking straight ahead.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m seeing everything through rose-coloured glasses.

But I’ll tell you this:

Being more open has allowed me to have amazing experiences, and very pleasant exchanges with people I’ll never see again. And you know what? They made me smile. They made my day. And I know I made theirs too.

All these exchanges take moments. Some maybe seconds. But the result is the same: a few minutes later you part ways feeling lighter, and probably smiling.

How about doing that for someone today?