Alright, week one is in the books. I think it is safe to say there has been no seismic shift in the way my mind thinks or operates, but as they say,” a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step .”First things first, my wife, who normally does not get me much for Christmas, really outdid herself this year. She dragged me to a holiday party and then abandoned me, and when we came home, it turns out she also gave me covid. As they also say, it’s the thought that counts.
Getting out of the house to actually compliment someone could have potentially been a big deal, but luckily we both tested negative at the beginning of the week so we can begin to venture out back into the world.
The First real compliment of the week came for me on Monday when we took my buddy Rob’s wife and their kids out to dinner. Now Rob passed away a couple of years ago, a few months after my son was born, he had a brain tumor. He was a tough son of a bitch who dealt with it for over a decade. His wife was by his side through all of it, and I just wanted her to know it did not go unnoticed and that she was one of the stronger women I have ever met. The compliment rolled right down her back like water off a ducks ass. She thanked me for it, but at the end of the day, that was her husband, and what else was she supposed to do?
My second compliment or pat on the back was to Micky, who works at the post office. Now I go to the Post Office A LOT! I have always had some sort of business or side hustle that required shipping, so I have actually been to Post Offices all over Los Angeles, and this guy is by far the best worker I have ever encountered working there. He knows everything, always has a smile, is fast efficient, and is really a great representation of the Post Office. Again, my compliment bounced off of him like rubber. Mickey just thanked me and was right back to try to help the next customer in line. Some heroes really do not wear capes.
The final compliment that I went out of the way to give was a review of the pizza place in our neighborhood. My wife jokes because I am in the top 1% of all their customers through Uber eats; whenever I order from them, I am reminded by them and by her that I am basically a fat ass. Nevertheless, I actually decided FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER to write a review for something, and I let them know that for pizza that is not from N.Y., it’s not that terrible; they have yet to respond. One thing I have noticed in the 1st week or so of giving a pat on the back to someone for anything is that I was looking for the good in people; as corny as that might sound, it was true. Let’s see if that keeps up.
As far as reaching out to 3 people, it was New Year, so I reached out to a ton of people to wish them Happy New Year, so no one was really too surprised to hear from me. I think going forward; I have to mix it up and find other ways to reach out to people.
Lastly, as far as the three kind gestures go, those all went over real well. In actuality, I did a bunch of those this week, and that is not to toot my own horn. Most of what we are talking about are common courtesy and manners, holding the door, saying thank you or bless you when they sneeze, so I am not really setting the bar that high here. That being said, a few instances really jumped out at me this week, we had to get out of the house so my wife could do her Amazon live, and I took my little guy to the mall. It’s perfect for him to run around. When we got there, I held the door for a Persian woman, and then I continued to hold it for her two daughters, and they recognized Shams and the mother was just so happy. You could see her genuine happiness to see my son. When a complete stranger is delighted to see your son that it seeps from her pores as a dad, it’s really impossible to have a bad day after that.
Another time this week, when I did something to be nice, I learned not to judge a book by its cover. At Starbucks, while buying my wife her coffee, I bought the coffee for the older gentleman behind me. He was pretty disheveled, not dirty, just very unkempt. He looked like Richard Dreyfuss probably does right now, he initially refused, but I insisted. As I was leaving, he asked if I would sit there with him for a second. This was actually putting my life at risk because if my wife does not get her coffee when it is hot, she turns into a demon. A sweet and kind demon but a demon nonetheless. Even with that fear in my heart, I decided to sit down with the oldtimer for a second, and he told me, “Son, I am a multimillionaire.” “I do not need you to buy me coffee, although that was incredibly nice of you.” We had already established from my accent that I was from New York, so with that same attitude, I am sure he was already expecting to get from me. I asked him, so why do you look like you fell out of a dumpster? He laughed and said, “so people are buying me coffee and not asking me to buy it for them.” Lesson learned, pops!
We will see what else is down this road, but the first week is in the books, and I must say it made me feel better to try and be better. Some of that inherently happens around the new year because it’s a new beginning with new hope and optimism. Does that hold up over the next year? We shall see, and only time will tell.