The Power of a Kind Voice
(The author wishes to remain anonymous)
Edited by Shmuel Greenbaum
Printed with Permission of [www.PartnersInKindness.org]

When I was much younger and working my way through school, I was working in a deli shop in a place that was a popular lunch spot for business people in the neighborhood because of our quick service and specialty sandwiches.

During the lunch hour, the line formed rather quickly, and I was the person at the front taking the orders while also preparing sandwiches. Our customers were used to the routine --- I would look up and ask them for their order when I was ready.

One day, while I was working on a sandwich, the next person in line barked his order at me very loudly and before I was ready. My immediate thought was, "Who does this guy think he is?" and I couldn’t believe how rude he was. But when I looked up all ready to bark back at him, I saw a young guy in a suit, thoroughly distracted, fidgeting with some papers, looking stressed out, and he wasn’t even looking at me.

The thought came to me that he must be having a very bad day, so I moved closer to the counter, looked straight at him and with the softest, warmest voice I could, asked him whether he wanted mustard or mayonnaise. I wasn’t sure how he would react, but he suddenly looked up at me as if he had just woken up, and then he answered me back softly and respectfully. I noticed that the shoulders of everyone in line relaxed a little bit at this and the next few customers were extra polite that day.

This event took just a few seconds of one day, but the lesson I learned has stayed with me all my life. When someone speaks to us rudely, meanly or threateningly, our immediate reaction often is to respond in the same way. But I realized that we could also choose to respond differently.

By trying to understand the feelings of this person, I was able to "get over" the way he talked to me and respond kindly to him. And perhaps that helped him to feel relieved, even if just for a short time, of whatever problems or stresses he had been under.

So often we go through our daily habits, usually in a great rush, and we forget to make real eye-to-eye contact with the people we interact with each day. This day, I was thrilled by the simple fact that we could all change someone’s day and our day, too, by simply speaking with a kind voice.

Such a nice post, kwan.

Something to remember!

" Hey um sir... (using an ultra soft silky voice) would you uhh like ...mustard... or ( after a long very sincere and thoughtful pause) .... may- ohhhhh.."

I should say these EXACT same words when someone gets me all riled up... I would probably get a LOT of strange looks... but hey... what the heck?

Great post!

That's some response. It's a nice way to remind someone they could be more respectful while keeping your own self respect.

Responding in the same, or heightened , manor is tempting but I like this softer approach. Cool.

If they still don't catch on... well, I'll leave that alone ;.)

It's HARD to do sometimes. It's so much easier to respond on the same level, but then when I do, I go away feeling a noticeable shift in my energy that can feel bad for an hour or a day afterward.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

in a way i hated this post
because it is a reminder of how difficult it is to do

i liked this post because
it showed how powerful this approach can be

i hated this post because it reminds me of the time ( recently) when i did not take the soft approach and now i am paying for it

i liked this post because it shows that if i have the courage, i can perhaps remedy the situation

thanks kwan

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

Mother Teresa



It’s your unlimited power to care and love that can make the biggest difference in the quality of your life.

Anthony Robbins



Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.

Blaise Pascal



Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.

Albert Schweitzer



Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

Mark Twain



Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.

Og Mandino

"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.

Og Mandino"

Ooh, good one!!!

WOW AWESOME!!

ILOVE THAT QUOTE!