A Façade or Something Deeper?

Why do we exchange pleasantries?

Almost every day we exchange pleasantries with people we barely know. Surface-level conversations are a necessary reminder of our level of civility. In public settings, this is the agreed-upon norm. The fact that somebody says, “have a nice day”, maybe because of the fear that corporate America threatens people’s livelihoods if they aren’t pleasing the customer. Or it could be a barometer for the level of order in society. If society is chaotic (think back to the beginning of COVID), nobody has time to exchange those basic interactions. Dealing with the issues at hand comes before pleasantries. However, if times are more stable, the pleasantries will be more prominent in your daily lives.

We are slowly forgetting the pride that comes from encouraging decent interactions. Working a customer service job is important. You are the person who sets the tone for a person’s experience. You should want people to enjoy their purchase. Even if you are having a bad day, you should still take pride in doing your job. You will be more satisfied fulfilling the requirements of a job that you don’t like, rather than half-heartedly doing a job. At least if you try, you can be satisfied with your effort. Even basic interactions take effort, and we can’t forget how valuable they are. Wearing a mask and having a screen shoved in your face already cuts down on our exchanges, so let’s make the few exchanges we have pleasant.