Day 1 - December 9th and 10, 2010

On my flight from Detroit to Denver, I realized that I needed to be nicer to people.  So I decided that I was going to be nice to EVERYONE I came in contact with.  I was sitting next to a young man, about 24 years old, who seemed a little down.  Here's my chance, I thought.  I'll start right now.  I leaned over and said, "Hi" and that was all he needed.  He talked a lot, I listened.   He has been traveling from Albuquerque, NM to Detroit every week for the last 6 months.  His young wife has a job in New Mexico - hence the weekly separation.  He was extremely nice, and made the flight go much faster than usual.   

I then got off the plane and thought that smiling at everyone I saw would be a great idea on my quest for niceness.   The first person was easy, she was a Southwest Airlines stewardess, and they are always smiling.  I smiled at her and said, "Thank you for all you do."  She smiled genuinely and said, "Thank You very much, have a great evening!"  This was going to be easy!  Well, here are a few things I found out from my first smiling expedition.   1st, if you smile at guys in the bathroom, that's not a good thing.  2nd, if you smile at attractive ladies, don't smile for too long.  3rd, don't smile at anyone 6' 5" 300 lbs or larger that is wearing a Meat Packers shirt.  4th, if you smile and say hi to everyone, most smile back.   5th, Southwest airlines employees are funny, nice, and like to smile a lot.  6th, approximately 1/3 of men in Denver don't wash their hands after they use the restrooms.  (OK, I know that really doesn't have to do with anything, but it grosses me out all the same).

Once I arrived in Las Vegas, it was already 3:00 in the morning body time, so I wasn't very talkative, but I still tried to smile at everyone.  Just a note: it's interesting how people look at you when you smile at them in the early morning hours.  When I arrived at the hotel it was already 1:15 Las Vegas time, and I had a nice chat with the desk manager before going off to bed.   I think I can do this!  I only have 364 1/2 days left! Being nice is fun.