The other side .....

Firstly, a word of thanks to Eric and Poh Nee, who rightly pointed out that the job of a retail consultant (haha, that's they call them nowadays) is far from easy and entails long hours of standing and facing difficult customers.

I originally wrote the post to illustrate how impersonal big mall shopping is, but somehow it came out as a criticism of the people who work there.

But I do agree with both of my friends. Sometimes we forget that while we expect people to be kind and considerate to us, we often need to be the same, too, first.

The next time you pay for your stuff at the mall, the kopitiam, wherever, pause for a while and look at the person in front of you.

He or she is also a human being just like you and me, irregardless of whether he or she looks indifferent, fierce, or just plain blank.

Without any expectations, smile and say thank you sincerely. More often than not, you will gain something unexpected back.

I often forget this myself, and that's why I love the movie Groundhog Day so much.

In the movie, Phil (Bill Murray) was stuck in the same day in the same town, in which he has to relive the same things happening around him over and over again. At first, he was totally indiferrent to the people around him. But as the day repeats itself over and over again, he began to notice things - the boy who fell off a tree, the quarreling engaged couple, the lonely school teacher, the sickly old beggar, the ladies who had a flat tire.

Since Phil knew what was going to happen the next day (because its the same day all over again), he began to use this knowledge to make a difference in everyone's lives.

Unlike Phil, when a moment passes us, we lose it forever. I think it is worth it for us to just take a risk, to just stop and make a difference in a person's life ,no matter how small it is.

So, the next time you are at the mall paying for some stuff, remember to smile :)