Social Interactions 1 & 2

Last week I made an attempt to apply the three strategies from “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” The first attempt went fairly well although I did not reap any benefit. Last Wednesday I was in Panera Bread getting lunch with a couple of my teammates and I noticed the cashier had made her own name tag. As I approached the register I greeted Summer with a hello and a big smile. She was not making eye contact at the time in which I said her name, but as I continued the conversation. I began asking questions like how she liked working there or if she was in college. She slowly looked up in amazement as to why I was asking her these personal questions. But she had asked if I knew her from somewhere and I explained that I noticed her name tag was designed to incorporate the theme of summer like her name. She started to smile and enlightened me to the fact that I was the first person to ever ask about her name tag and how her day was going. At the end of our conversation she wished my team good luck during our season and to have a good day. Overall it was a pleasant experience. (First Assigned Attempt)

This week I made another attempt to apply the three steps incorporated in “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Unlike the first attempt I received a 10 % off discount of my total bill at Lil Abners. This interaction was a lot more in depth because the atmosphere was laid back and we had mutual knowledge of the same things. As I entered the store I walked passed the cashier and said hello. I began to get the items in which I wanted and came back to the front to then pay for them. As I approached the counter I smiled and asked how his day was and then followed up with asking what’s his name and gave mine in return. Before even ringing me up he noticed I went to UMBC and started to ask various questions about how we were doing in basketball, and if I liked the school. I noticed that not only was I asking questions and getting personal he was doing the same. So by the end of our conversation he rang up the items in which I brought to the front and gave me a 10 % off discount. Therefore, I plan on having a personal interaction with Dave every time I enter Lil Abners in hope of the benefits. (Second Assigned Attempt)