Banter

AKA “Do talk to strangers”…

Ascot was brilliant. There was a girl on the last day who said to me that I must be sick and tired of my job by now after 5 days straight, and I said to her that I could do it for another 100 days because it’s very engaging and the people you meet in the Royal Enclosure and the staff I’m working with are so kind and friendly, it feels more like a holiday than a real job. Overall, I got over £25 in tips this week. However, these do include money that people left behind as well as £7 of genuine tips.

One thing this week has taught me (beside the minimum stake for a permutation Jackpot) is the value of kindness. I have a new found respect for people who work behind tills, or in fact anyone who has to interface with the public on a day-to-day basis. Just by being polite, and having what me and Josh like to call “banter” can really make someone’s day. Working at Ascot it was always the people who I had a bit of a conversation with that I would remember. I would have girls who would come specifically to me to place their bets because I was good luck (apparently, even though it was them picking the winning horses).

A prime example of this was this week when me and Josh needed to buy our train tickets every day to get to work. We bought them from the same kiosk and chatted to the same girl behind the counter every day. By the end of the week it was good fun to ask her for “the usual” and have some “banter”.

I took this principle further yesterday when I rang up my bank to activate a new account. It was 12:30AM and I was expecting to get an automated message running me through activation. Instead I got a real human! After she’d set me up with my account she asked me if I had anything else to ask, I told her I was surprised to get a human to talk to and we had a bit of banter about her shift and what type of crazy people ring their bank at 1am.

It doesn’t take much to make someone smile and it makes you feel good too. It can even restore your faith in human nature. Your homework this week is to have banter with at least one person before Friday, just try it… you’ll be surprised how easy it is! I want to hear your success stories in the comments!

• Happiness. 8.5 out of 10
• Tiredness. 3 out of 5
• Last Meal. Roast dinner (many thanks as always to mum)
• Song of the day. Muse – Feeling Good
• Thought for the day. Happy Father’s Day! I love you dad!
• What I’m Doing Now. On the train to Josh’s to build him a computer

PS… If you bet £2 on a horse and it crosses the finish line first but without a jockey, it doesn’t count as a win. Learn from my mistake.

PPS… In response to my post on Monday (Quick Character Flaws), I’d like to strike confidence from the list. This week has given me more confidence about myself.