Oh if every day was a pleasant day...

It's time to advance ZZ Top and I've got laryngitis. These aren't arenas or places I've been before. These are ballrooms, county fairs, and whistle stops in deep Texas. I can't whip out the old email threads and contact someone online. Nope, this time I need to CALL. Call the venue and try to locate the correct person. When did calling people become so daunting? In the world of email, text, skype, BBM, twitter and AIM, how on earth do you even know how to speak anymore? And when you do, its rushed, because you are speaking like you're texting or typing, you just need answers, no need for pleasantries. That's something that's gone out the window. So sad. When someone actually asks "Hello, how are you doing" you are taken aback... "uh....fine.....fine?" We call for answers and execution, not for conversation. And yet, how much more enjoyable would day to day interactions be if they were all pleasant? It may take twenty more seconds to lead into a conversation with a "How is your day?", but its guaranteed that the rest of the conversation will be better than it would have been without it. Because you're not barking orders or snapping off questions, you've taken a breath; A moment to recognize that you are speaking to another human being, who has needs and lives in the world, and that in turn makes you realize that you too are a human being that has needs and lives in the world, and then you stop and take a minute for yourself and adjust and relax, and all of a sudden, its pleasant... which is why we call them pleasantries.