Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Do you have a favorite cashier at the grocery store or the post office or your regular lunch joint?  I do.  Do you go to a coffee shop a bit out of the way because you feel more "at home" there?

I have a vague idea of the schedules of the "consequential strangers" in my life; the people that are just sort of there and maybe not noticed much until they are not there.  I tend to do what I need done when they are working.  I didn't start off doing this as a planned thing; it happened over time.  When I finally noticed what I was doing, I tried to figure out the "why them" of it.

Simply enough, they seemed happy.  They were doing their job with a smile.  They were invested in me while I was with them.  They were helping to make today a good day.  I find myself responding in kind.  Then I find that it carries over to the next person I encounter.  I'm making someone's day better.

As we go about our day it makes sense to notice the interactions we're having with our family, our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers and all the other people in our neighborhood.  We should take a little effort and try to make their lives better by being invested in them.  By making their day a better day, ours is more likely to be a good day.