![]() This article, however, examines some evidence gathered by behavioral scientists who contend that interactions with strangers improve our mood – maybe first by forcing us into a “pretend friendly” mode – but usually by the end of the encounter, the pleasantries and positive interaction has created genuine positive feelings. We all follow unspoken social rules and don’t generally make eye contact or strike up conversations with strangers – and I must say unequivocally that this is almost an absolute in Sweden. When I got home, I stumbled on an article that reinforced the same underlying themes. This shift in perspective was quite conscious – and although we did not, as I said, interact, acknowledging his humanity made a difference. Imagining that he fired up the old car just to go get candy on a Sunday! He probably owned that car since it was brand new (or at least that is how I like to imagine it). Once I saw him drive away – slower than slow – it was impossible for me to hate him. ![]() I had passed by the car in the parking lot wondering to whom it belonged (I was parked across the parking lot and had to put my groceries in the car and return my cart and somehow still ended up finishing before this old man got to the car). Then he drove himself away at a snail’s pace in an old, original VW Bug. He seemed to have gone to the store just to get out for a while – and in the end selected carefully and bought himself a bag of loose candy (which all Scandinavians seem to live for). But, despite not interacting with him, I tried to view him in a different light. I almost got mad in the grocery store because an old man kept getting in my way. I had to go out to do a lot of errands, and I am not the biggest fan of Sunday driving in the country, particularly when the weather turns nice, Norwegians come to Sweden in droves – and worse yet, Germans and Dutch will soon arrive. ![]() It was the most gorgeous day – warm, sunny, really indicative of why I live here. (I have never really met anyone who understood this – but when I did, I knew I met my match.)Īpart from this, I tried very hard today to keep things off the hate list. Thus, I go through life a wee bit irritated, and I cope with this by making my little hate lists, or ranting briefly but not very seriously, about my annoyance. I don’t know why I am in such a hurry – but I just can’t fathom why other people are so myopic and inconsiderate – they go slowly (fine) but do so it seems largely because they think they are the only people in the store, on the road, in the world. That is, I am impatient, don’t like crowds, don’t like slow drivers, don’t like the people at the store who block the entire aisle or wait until their huge cartload of groceries is fully checked before getting out their debit card, or people who treat motorway onramps like that is the best possible place for viewing the scenery (i.e., going slow and not accelerating to the speed at which they need to go to merge).
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