Step 218: Be nice to new people
This is a great step originally suggested by Alert Reader Rachel. Being new to a place or job is like being really sick in that when people show you a small amount of kindness, it feels like a great deal of kindness, because you’re so nervous/stressed/anxious/lonely (or, in the case of sickness, feverish/tired/unable to climb the Everest that is going to the grocery store for yourself).
You don’t need to go over the top, but stopping by to introduce yourself and issue a kind invitation can go a long way. If they’re new at work, invite them to grab a cup of coffee that afternoon. If they’re new in the building, let them know that you’d love to answer any questions about the neighborhood — where the best pizza is, which scary neighbors to avoid, and so on. You can even, as Rachel suggested, pull the old-fashioned, still-awesome move of bringing the new neighbor a pie.
Because if you’ve ever been new in a non-friendly place, you know how awful it is. All of us, sooner or later, will be new somewhere, hoping there are decent people around. Be those decent people.
