This is inside Sunny Farms. If you’ve ever been to Sequim you know how popular this place is, with good reason. If you haven’t been to Sequim but a visit is in your future, you should definitely check it out.
I did an experiment yesterday and smiled at every person who made eye contact with me while shopping, counting to 10 people. At Safeway 3 out of 10 people smiled back. At Sunny Farms, 8 out of 10 people smiled back. Personally, I can’t imagine seeing someone smile at me and not smiling back, but I get people have bad days and they probably dislike grocery shopping as much as I do. Maybe people don’t even realize they are doing it and are caught up in their own worlds or maybe they don’t feel a need or obligation to smile back. When you grocery shop are you aware of other people?
YES! I always strike up conversations with people. I used to be a product rep for a Food Broker….I had 42 stores to police. My boss used to come with occasionally and was always annoyed because I would take the time to help people..if they couldn’t find something and I knew where it was. BAH on that. It’s a great way to find out how good a product is, when you see someone reaching for it.
what a great experiment!!
when i arrived at my first workplace last year april, i also smiled to everyone in the corridors. i was new, in another country…. and was used to greeting everyone when at work (even so we would not work in the same group or whatever). here, not so…. they did not even look at me. nobody wondered who that new person was, and after 3 months i myself stopped smiling as well… after 3 more months i left…
i think its soo much nicer when people smile to each other, even when you dont know them! it can make me very happy when you just walk around in the city and a complete stranger smiles to you.. i dont understand why that does not happen more often!!
First: I love Sunny Farms – and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this empty. This must be early in the morning? Second: I’ve smiled and been smiled at more here than anywhere I lived in California. I don’t know if that’s saying much. But I’ve found people here so nice, and much more open. I admit I tend to be more in my own world when I’m in a grocery store. It may be the nature of trying to get a chore done — and, especially, what am I forgetting?? What a great experiment!
🙂
Pat, that is a lot of stores to police. I see how what other’s get strikes up conversations sometimes. Now and then when people see a pomelo in my cart, they’ll ask to me about it. Cat, I’m a believer in the power of a smile too and love those encounters where a stranger smiles at you and you get lifted up from that.
Kay, it was late afternoon so it was rare to be not packed full of people. I loved when they added the green little carts. Sometimes I have to walk around the lot waiting for people to be done with theirs because all of them are being used and I don’t want to use one of the big clunkers.
Larry 🙂
A stranger is just a friend you have not met yet! Smile more!
Seigfried, what a great thought..I am smiling at you right now!
Thank you Pat, have a great week!