People aren't the worst... at least not always.

My sister always says, "People, they're the worst." She got it from Seinfeld. I often agree with this statement since I moved out here. Most people don't say excuse me when bumping into you, they cut you off while driving, get mad at you when you let them go first because you were wasting too much time in making that decision. They are stuck up and rude. Not the lifestyle I am used to. I often worry that I am becoming this way just from being around them. Yesterday people didn't suck. I made a trip to Target. I really enjoyed my trip because people seemed a lot friendlier than usual. First it was a cute old lady. I said excuse me to get around her and a pole in the aisle. She smiled at me and said, "It's those poles, they're always in the way." I smiled back and agreed, not even the elderly are usually friendly here. The rest of my enjoyment was from eavesdropping. There was a family sitting on the patio furniture, a mother and father and there two little ones. They were eating breadsticks from Pizza Hut (which is in the Target) and the wife said to her husband, "This is the nicest place you have taken me to eat in a long time." I laughed to myself, which she saw and smiled at me. Next I overheard the exchange between a little girl and a stranger with a baby. The little girl asked the strange woman how old her baby was, and the woman responded. The little girl then shared, "I am four and 3/4. Does your baby like bubbles?" The woman answered, "Yes, my baby does like bubbles." "How much does your baby like bubbles?" "She likes them very much." Then there was the 5 or 6 year old boy telling his mother the importance of being clean and then asked, "Mom, do you know how to clean ears with Q-tips?" The mother laughed and said, "Yes, I know how to clean ears with Q-tips." I, too, laughed with the mother, which she noticed and smiled at me. The checkout person was a young girl, probably high school age. She was very friendly and pleasant. When I gave her the money I owed, $100.20 (I spend too much at Target), she counted it and said there was only $100 there. I pointed to the amount and said that is what I owed. She apologized with a chuckle and a red face, which made me smile and I reassured her it was fine and wished her a great day. People don't always suck if you look for the little things. I think the thing I have lost out here is not my politeness, it was watching for those little things. It seems like no one here looks for those things, i.e. "stops to smell the roses." Everything is rush, rush, rush. It's all about money and not enough time. It is about working long days. The little things are the most important. They make small things like a trip to the store into an enjoyable experience. I am making it a point to not forget that while I am still here and am looking forward to going back to a place where the little things count the most.