Look People in the Eye – see them as human beings with ideas and feelings of their own.

Greet clerks, waiters, cashiers, fellow shoppers or travelers, etc. Look them in the eye, say hello, and if they give you a greeting or ask a question (even if you can tell it’s a routine phrase) then respond. This is a short, small interaction, but it is a moment of human connection. Of course, you have to really mean what you say or ask.

And remember, smiles are contagious and so is kindness.

I am always surprised when a waiter or cashier says “hello, how are you?” (as they have been trained to do) and I look them in the eye and say “I’m fine. How are you doing?” They usually seem startled that I would bother to ask, but then (usually) they respond positively. Too many times we sleepwalk through these interactions – both parties acting like robots going through the motions.

I had the funniest conversation with a group of people waiting in the oral surgeon’s office – somehow two of us started talking, then gradually 4 other people joined in (all of us total strangers). It was just so nice to have that human connection. Sometimes I think this is what we miss when we say “we don’t have communities any more.” It’s not like we exchanged names or phone numbers…we just had a nice 20 minutes sharing experiences and some laughs with each other. It’s not hard to do – someone just needs to start.