Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Would It Kill You To Smile ?


    I've never felt compelled to call a radio talk show until today. I was in Tim Hortons drive-thru for my morning coffee when the topic of discussion on 1410 CFUN was, "Do you think Vancouverites are friendly ?" I grabbed my phone, dialed *1410 and immediately got through. The producer asked me my name, the question and I was put on hold awaiting my turn to "share" (I made sure I turned my radio down, not wanting to be one of those knobs with feedback and the, "Can you turn your radio down please ?"). When I got on air I proceeded to tell my tale of woe, how that I find Vancouverites extremely unfriendly and I would venture to say borderline miserable.
    I explained to the host how I have been taking the same walk down Lonsdale for almost twenty years. During that time there are only two people that I say hello to on a regular basis and one of them is a bit of a kook (he probably thinks the same thing about me). I usually walk around the same time each day so I see the same people and not one of them makes an attempt at any sort of  eye contact, acknowledgement or friendliness- I sometimes like to pretend that if we were the last two people on the planet... you'd talkin' a blue streak, Jack. I'm not the type of person that wants to make friends with everyone but could you at least give the token tight- lipped little smile or a nod.
     Even the people that work in customer service (similar to military intelligence and holy war) seem to be insincere at best. There are a couple of superstars I've met in businesses on Lonsdale but they were both from small towns... you can almost tell as soon as you talk to them.
     I could go on about this topic but I'll nip it here. Canadians have always been known as friendly and easy going but with the Olympics coming here in 2010 that could easily change... lighten up...  
    A few pics I took today on the "walk"...
























1 comment:

B. Diederich said...

Ah, Shucks... That's a darling picture! Now I will have to write a blog this weekend about 'Smiles' as people's perceptions of smiles have caused me to review myself many times over the years!

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