Manners Matter - Even in the Morning
I am not a morning person. Just ask my college roommate, Trisha. Thankfully, she was not a morning person either. We had a standing rule in room 112: Do not speak to one another until both roommates have showered. It's not that I'm mean in the morning. I just need about an hour or so of silence and solitude to be ready to face the world. Maybe this is an introvert thing?
Anyway. I take the train to work every day and this affords me about 40 minutes of silence and solitude to prepare for thoughtful interaction with others. I often spend this time reading or catching up on email. Sometimes I just stare out the window or listen to music. But I am not communicating with anyone - at least not verbally. Once I get to work, I pour myself a cup of coffee and am ready to face the day. No one talks on the train in the morning. I was talking about this with my Texan friend (the one and only) and he claims this is part of our culture in the Chicago area - people would talk to each other in Texas. Is this true? Are only Yankees zombies in the morning? I digress.
There is a woman who is always on my train in the morning (us humans - we are creatures of habit. The same people sit in the same car on the same train each morning. We even try to sit in the same seats!). Let's call her Sally. She keeps to herself just like the rest of us. When the train pulls in downtown, all of the commuters shuffle off - many in a zombie-like state, similar to me. Most honor the etiquette of exiting the train in a particular order. The first row first, then the second and so on. When someone lets Sally out of her seat and into the aisle to exit the train, she always smiles, looks that person in the eye and says "thank you." I notice it. Every day. And sometimes I am the recipient of that smile, and it always makes me smile.
So while I know I will never be chatty in the morning, I am going to try to model what Sally has done. I will smile, look the person in the eye, and say "thank you" to the person who lets me out of my seat. Perhaps my zombie smile will inspire one from the recipient. One smile before 9:00am? I'll be honest. This will be a challenge. But I am going to do my best.
Anyway. I take the train to work every day and this affords me about 40 minutes of silence and solitude to prepare for thoughtful interaction with others. I often spend this time reading or catching up on email. Sometimes I just stare out the window or listen to music. But I am not communicating with anyone - at least not verbally. Once I get to work, I pour myself a cup of coffee and am ready to face the day. No one talks on the train in the morning. I was talking about this with my Texan friend (the one and only) and he claims this is part of our culture in the Chicago area - people would talk to each other in Texas. Is this true? Are only Yankees zombies in the morning? I digress.
There is a woman who is always on my train in the morning (us humans - we are creatures of habit. The same people sit in the same car on the same train each morning. We even try to sit in the same seats!). Let's call her Sally. She keeps to herself just like the rest of us. When the train pulls in downtown, all of the commuters shuffle off - many in a zombie-like state, similar to me. Most honor the etiquette of exiting the train in a particular order. The first row first, then the second and so on. When someone lets Sally out of her seat and into the aisle to exit the train, she always smiles, looks that person in the eye and says "thank you." I notice it. Every day. And sometimes I am the recipient of that smile, and it always makes me smile.
So while I know I will never be chatty in the morning, I am going to try to model what Sally has done. I will smile, look the person in the eye, and say "thank you" to the person who lets me out of my seat. Perhaps my zombie smile will inspire one from the recipient. One smile before 9:00am? I'll be honest. This will be a challenge. But I am going to do my best.
This photo is of a mug I purchased on my recent trip to Texas. I couldn't resist sharing it with this post.
I am also a zombie in the morning until I have showered--something our kids have had to learn to deal with :) Something I have been trying that helps wake me up a bit and embrace the day is to not get out of bed until I have asked God for help with three things for the coming day. Actually, I have forgotten to do that all of this week, so it's good for me to talk about as a reminder to myself :)
ReplyDeleteSo sorry I am just now replying - I don't think I had figured the comments out when I did my first post :) Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I've actually just started working out in the mornings, which is torture. But it does help me wake up and be a bit more civil when I encounter others. How has this been for you, lately?
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