HOW TO KEEP IT SPECIAL

This morning a girl came to the window whom I recognized as having last time she was in said to me, “You’re always so nice to me.” The predicament I faced this morning was how to match that level of special. Maybe I could have asked her name, but that would have seemed intrusive, as she was making only minimal eye contact. I’m speculating that she was feeling shy – and thinking I might not remember her. I had asked her how she was doing, and that prompted only a minimal exchange. Sometimes I hit people with a “Your morning going ok?” after the initial “How you doin’?” and this seems to sometimes prompt more exchange. Maybe at this second pass they more believe that I am really interested. With her, though, I settled for trying to put even a little more juice into the mundane aspects of the transaction.

Then, maybe five minutes later, Roy (his name on his work badge) appeared at the window – another person who has in the past made a point of how much he appreciates my friendliness. He initiated this morning by using my name, as he has been doing recently – and that set it up for me to use his name, which was enough specialness for this transaction.

Here’s the ticket with that girl: Next time I’ll make it clear that I remember her: “Hey, you’re the girl who said those nice things to me. What’s your name? Call me John.” I like that – that feels right as a next move in at least kind of keeping it special with her.