Off Guard

I spent yesterday doing a mini bar bounce on the Upper West Side.  One thing I do when I go into new places is ask the bartender their name and shake their hand.  There are typically two reactions. They either tell me with a smile then shake my hand, or they get a “who wants to know” look on their face and reluctantly tell me and shake my hand.

I do the meet and greet for two specific reasons.  First, it acknowledges the person behind the bar.  Too often, people in the service industry are taken for granted.  Second, I do it for me.  One of my three daily action items is to meet someone new.  Initiating conversation with strangers takes me out of my introvert comfort zone and presents an opportunity to learn something new, which happens to be item two on my daily action item list.

In this head buried in our damn phone society, the simple of act of saying hello is going by the wayside.  Go out today and catch someone off guard by saying hello, and watch the reaction.  It’s a fun game and completely free.