Yesterday, I was fully stuck in my head, ruminating about my own affairs, for the first few hours of the day. Even my usual fun-sprint down the spiral staircase at work couldn’t break me out of my shell. Only what happened next did.
“Good morning!”
“Good morning!”
“What can I get ya?”
“One cappuccino please.”
Whether it was because he had just cranked out 20 lattes already during the morning rush or for some other reason, I don’t know, but this time, I held my warm, comforting beverage in my hands within 30 seconds.
“Wow, that was light speed man, fantastic. Thank you!”
“Just normal,” he said and shrugged, but in the corner of his mouth, I could see the slightest smirk, and I knew: Here’s a human being who’s happy to have just received a compliment — and that, in turn, made me happy. That did the trick.
From that moment on, I became less self-conscious and more other-conscious. I finally started doing my tasks instead of thinking about them, because I remembered who I was trying to do them for.
It turns out, just like our work, compliments are for everyone. They warm the giver as much as the receiver — and both more than even the best cup of coffee. Give more compliments.
