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Hi there, I’m Bill Lampton, the biz communication guy, I want you to go with me mentally into a grocery store 10 days ago, the grocery store very fine one that I usually go to and have been in hundreds of times here in Gainesville, Georgia. All of a sudden, I’m pushing my buggy down an aisle. And as I come to a point about halfway in the aisle, there’s a guy there whose cart is turned sideways, his blocking my passage, because he’s looking for something up on the shelf, I waited a few seconds, I see he’s not going to move. And so I say with a smile on my face, and very politely excuse me, sir, I need to get by you. His response was not what I was expecting. He looked at me with a very menacing look. And I I wouldn’t even call it a threatening look. And he said to me, you know, I can either stay here like I am for another minute and get what I want. Or else I can move my card and let you come by and I waste three minutes. Little bit of a shock. We don’t usually talk to that way. And so I’m beginning to wonder hasn’t this guy heard about the customer courtesy and grocery stores where if somebody asked you nicely, you move your cart so they can get by. And then I started thinking of all the violent incidents that have taken place in ordinary places, like grocery stores and shopping centers, and everywhere else. And who knows, if I talked back to this guy, it might very well be that his temper, which you already exhibited, could ignite. And there could even be physical reactions. So I stayed quiet, rather wisely. Eventually, he moved. I walked on by and didn’t say anything. Now, my reaction could have been, that’s typical of this grocery store. This is this is the kind of clientele who come in here, I probably ought to pick another grocery store, to go to if people are going to be this abrupt and rude and inconsiderate. And yet, I’ve been going there a long time, I’ve always received great treatment from the employees, the manager, other customers. So let’s go back to that grocery store now, about five days, days later. This time I’m walking down an aisle is not blocked. But I have to stop and get something. I stopped by reach up onto the top shelf. And when I do that, I knock over a box that I really was trying to get. And as I’m turning around to, to pick up the box before I can get to it. There’s a man there who picks it up and hands it to me very thoughtfully, with a smile on his face. I thanked him. And we nodded. And again, I told him, I appreciated his help. And he walked away. Now you see in this case, I can have a totally different bit of self talk about the incident. This is a great place to shop. The people here are courteous. They have great manners, they think about others and the needs of others and they help them even when they’re not asked to. This got me thinking about my approach and yours to the world around us. Because the world around us is bombarding us every day with terrible news. Whether you’re getting it from your newspaper, online or in print, whether you’re hearing it on the radio or reading it on the internet, or you’re watching television news, there’s plenty of bad news, murders, robberies, lootings kidnapping, child molestation, human trafficking. There’s so much out there that That’s very, very negative. So the choice is up to us.
Are we going to think, as we might have thought, when that first guy confronted me in the grocery store that everything is evil around us? Or are we going to react like the second guy, I call them the good news guys. And the bad news guys, and the bad news guy was the first one, the good news guy was that there are still great people around. And so every day, as we are hearing, the terrible news around us, it’s up to us what our self talk is going to be. And one of the things that I’ve said in videos and speeches and seminars and articles for a number of years is that before you talk to anybody else, talk to yourself first. That’s why I still value Shad Helmstetter book that I read probably 25 years ago, what to say when you Talk To Yourself, because the world around us is very much like a an elevator with two buttons, we can push, there’s the down button, we could do that every day, when we get up, we could push the down button as we think of all those atrocious things that are happening around us our we can push the up button, as we think of those people who are so helpful. The people in health care who have made our lives so much better, and will continue to with medical advancements. The people who care for the homeless, the helpless, the hopeless, those who give us spiritual inspiration, those who teach our children, there’s so many great people around doing great things. And that’s where we need to focus. So remember the two guys in the grocery store, the bad news guy, and the good news guy. They represent our world today. So I encourage you, let’s focus on the good news guy. And I am going to invite you to check for other videos that I’ve produced you can go to my YouTube channel, it’s listed as Bill Lampton PhD, type that into YouTube, you’ll find my channel and be sure to hit the subscribe button I’d love to have you and see the videos. Some I’ve done solo like this one, but there are many where I have interviewed people prominent business communication experts on my biz communication show, which I host every week, so I invite you to go there and then to there’s my website, biz communication guide.com Which is quite logical. Since I’m the biz communication guy. And after that, after you’ve looked at my services, what are offered to corporations and individuals give me a call the biz communication guy Bill Lampton. 678-316-4300 again 678-316-4300 I look forward to talking with you soon, with a no obligation cost where you describe some of the communication challenges and problems that you’re having. And we will explore whether I’m the person to help you find the solutions. Thanks again for being with me today. I’m Bill Lampton the biz communication guy
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
