People power

One thing that still takes me by surprise when I'm out and about in Glasgow is the friendly nature of it's people. Yeah I know that's a bit of a cliché, but nonetheless it's true. These days it's all too easy to just see the scum/ned population especially as they're a such a vocal element in our society but there's a rich vein of warmheartedness running deep through this place I call home.

To be honest I don't really consider this very often, in fact most times it takes a steady accumulation of tiny encounters to open my eyes to this extremely cool thing that I'm ashamed to say I've taken for granted more often than not.

The pubs, clubs and shops I like to frequent all have one thing in common, it's that little extra touch of humanity. The smile, the conversation even that little extra look of recognition makes these little encounters that much more pleasant. Even the fact that I'm writing on this blog is connected to what I'm talking about. When I first visited the Fat Buddha Store I had a great shopping experience and this was less about the stuff I was buying (cool as it was :D) and more about the way Leslie engages with visitors to his shop. Thing is you can tell when people engage you in an honest manner and that is what keeps bringing people back to shops, bars etc.

The right way and the wrong way (see subway staff for reference)

Here in the UK we don't have a basic levels of customer service that are a core part of the service industry (fake as it may be) in other countries like the USA (home of the "Perma-grin") so take a second to note the next time you get that little bit of extra service and bounce the smile back.

:D