Hospitality...the foreign concept

Have you ever noticed that experiencing someone else being hospitable towards you feels weird? I have. I wanted to write this post a long time ago when this happened to me.

Here's the situation: I walked into Chic Fil-A, seeking nothing but the bathroom. I was going to eat but not until after I was able to use the bathroom. I had that goal in mind and wasn't expecting anything would stop me from doing so. The second I walked in the door the cashier asked me how I was. I was confused. I hadn't walked up to the counter yet, I literally just walked through the door and already people were talking to me. But wait, they weren't just talking to me, they were smiling. Not one of those fake "I'm only asking you this because its in my job description" kind of smiles, but a real one. I was confused.

Why should that be confusing? Why is it that when people do something even remotely nice for us we think its strange and out of place. It should not be this way. Here's another situation for you...

You go over a friend's house. Now normally when you go over a friend's house the parents are quite nice to you...but this friend is originally from a different country, or maybe just their parents are. Either way, they still express the culture of somewhere that isn't here. You notice that they are over-the-top nice to you. They feed you...several times, are always asking if you need anything, the carry on pleasant conversation with you...quite simply they are super nice to you. "Ahhhhh" you think, "I love the hospitality of other cultures."

Let me highlight something for you ...other cultures...

Right, so whether or not we notice it...we, as a culture, are not super great at the whole hospitality thing. Why is that? I don't know, but it is not a good thing. We are also not super great at being receptive. If someone says hi to you when you pass by them...say hi back...its a simple phrase...hi...two letters, one syllable. It is quite easy to say.

Also I've noticed people have a terrible habit of asking the age old "how are ya?" without caring at all what the answer is. If you ask in passing, you should probably stop walking long enough to hear the response. Other wise just say "hey," or refer to the previous paragraph.

As a culture I think that our interactions with each other need work. We need to recognize that people are around us all the time and act kindly towards them.