{"id":2553,"date":"2012-01-12T00:26:20","date_gmt":"2012-01-12T05:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspirationreport\/?p=2553"},"modified":"2012-01-11T14:31:54","modified_gmt":"2012-01-11T19:31:54","slug":"the-art-of-being-friendly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2012\/01\/the-art-of-being-friendly.html","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Being Friendly"},"content":{"rendered":"

My boyfriend talks to everyone.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll never forget walking with him through a tightly packed Dollar Tree store one night, hearing him behind me greet everyone who passed us with a \u201cHey there, how\u2019s it goin?\u201d in his Southern accent. At first I thought he was running into people he knew, because that happens a lot. But after a few more dates out on the town, I realized pretty soon that he\u2019ll give a friendly nod to just about anyone who glances his way.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m the opposite. I\u2019m a pretty nice person, but on more than one occasion, I\u2019ve stood in an elevator and not talked to anyone. I definitely don\u2019t smile at strangers. I come from further north where these attempts at courtesy are generally met with a frown. <\/p>\n

The art of being friendly\u2026 have we lost it?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>We are nearly 7 billion people bumping around on the same planet. Yet many will admit that they feel lonely and isolated. What\u2019s the cure? Where\u2019s the remedy? The issue is complex, but a small piece of the solution lies in the simplicity of being friendly. Here are a few easy starters:<\/p>\n

Hold open doors.<\/strong> Whether you\u2019re a woman or a man, it\u2019s often appreciated and always polite.<\/p>\n

Speak to people.<\/strong> Say good morning to the person in line with you at Starbucks. What\u2019s the harm?<\/p>\n

Address waiters\/servers\/baristas by name.<\/strong> They have a nametag for a reason. Instead of barking your order to the server, look him or her in the eyes and greet them like you would another human being. <\/p>\n

Remember the key phrases of courtesy.<\/strong> \u201cPardon me.\u201d \u201cThank you.\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re welcome.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s my pleasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t the world be a sweeter place if we took the time to recognize that we\u2019re all in this together and everyone just needs a little bit of kindness?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My boyfriend talks to everyone. I\u2019ll never forget walking with him through a tightly packed Dollar Tree store one night, hearing him behind me greet everyone who passed us with a \u201cHey there, how\u2019s it goin?\u201d in his Southern accent. At first I thought he was running into people he knew, because that happens a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,20,6,26],"tags":[557,555,554,556],"class_list":["post-2553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiring-messages","category-something-to-think-about","category-thought-to-ponder","category-well-being","tag-courtesy","tag-friendliness","tag-friendly","tag-poilte"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Art of Being Friendly<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2012\/01\/the-art-of-being-friendly.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Art of Being Friendly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My boyfriend talks to everyone. I\u2019ll never forget walking with him through a tightly packed Dollar Tree store one night, hearing him behind me greet everyone who passed us with a \u201cHey there, how\u2019s it goin?\u201d in his Southern accent. At first I thought he was running into people he knew, because that happens a…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2012\/01\/the-art-of-being-friendly.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiration Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-12T05:26:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-01-11T19:31:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspirationreport\/files\/2012\/01\/friends-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer E. Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Art of Being Friendly","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2012\/01\/the-art-of-being-friendly.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Art of Being Friendly","og_description":"My boyfriend talks to everyone. I\u2019ll never forget walking with him through a tightly packed Dollar Tree store one night, hearing him behind me greet everyone who passed us with a \u201cHey there, how\u2019s it goin?\u201d in his Southern accent. 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Jones","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/538\/5388855270a03493105edfa3ec01cb16x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/538\/5388855270a03493105edfa3ec01cb16x96.jpg","caption":"Jennifer E. Jones"},"description":"Jennifer E. Jones is a writer, editor and Web producer. She has written for entertainment, trade and inspirational organizations for nearly 15 years. She has a Master of Education and a Master of Journalism degree from Regent University. 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