I smiled all the way home......

In NYC I had to constantly self-monitor myself whenever I encountered another human being. Here at home I would normally say Hi! or at least smile at another person as we passed. And if we were in an elevator together, well....we probably would exchange cell numbers. Now, I'm not saying that NYers are not friendly, it's just that they react differently when someone strange speaks to them. I actually noticed a couple of people cringe when I forgot my self-monitoring and spoke to them. I mean, come on now, the aisles in most stores up there are so narrow that passing each other comes close to having an intimate encounter. It just seems right to at least speak as you're rubbing up against each other.

But I learned. And it didn't take long to understand. Space is so precious that you don't want to invite just anyone into your personal space. Actually, is there such a thing as personal space in the city?

But, about half-way through my stay, something extraordinay happened. One evening as I was buying some (more) groceries at AppleTree, as the guy handed me my purchaces, he said, "Thank you. See you next time." Up until then I thought they were fairly gruff people. I didn't take it personally. I thought maybe it was a cultural thing. I felt so silly, but after that little bit of pleasantry, I found myself smiling all the way back to the apartment.

And....after that, I started noticing people speaking to me in the elevator in the apartment building, and even more workers in the stores and delis I stopped in almost daily started saying "Thanks!" and "See you next time." I must say it startled me. Had I changed or had they?