Being courteous does pay dividends...

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When I first joined the company that I am working for, I was so thankful that transport is provided from my home all the way to the work place. But when I got on the bus for the very first day, I noticed that the bus driver is very grouchy. So, I got on and as usual, will greet the bus driver, regardless of whether he acknowledges. I always believe that when you greet someone, you acknowledge his presence. And that will at least make that person feel like he is some one rather than part of a machine that drives me to and from work. Took more than 3 months of greetings when I first seen my dividend from my constant greetings. Well for one, the driver is a grouchy fella. He is not willing to stop or wait for anyone, eventhough you are running to try and catch the bus and he saw you running. And a few people have missed the bus because of that. But that morning, I was later than usual cos the battery for the alarm clock went dead in the middle of the night. So I work up later than usual. Boy was I running like crazy to try and reach the pickup point. He saw me running from the distant. And he actually waited for me! To think he waited for no one before, he actually waited for me. Two more months of greetings, he started to grunt an acknowledgement my way. Just when he was acknowledging my greetings, the company changed another grouchy driver to replace him. So, I did as I usually did and greeted this one as well. Same thing, took a little over 2 months before he grunted an acknowledgement my way. Now, my wife takes the same transport as me. There was once, I was on course. But I still walk my wife to take the transport before I made my way to the public transport to get to the training venue. Guess what? The bus driver that has been grunting acknowledgements my way all these while, actually signaled to me if I was getting up. When I shook my head, he actually waved back at me and smiled! That sort of made my morning! Heh heh... But he too got replaced by the company shortly after we warmed up to each other. This bus driver was also grouchy as well. Too a little close to 3 months before he actually greeted me back. The past few weeks, he actually smiled and even made small talk with me. And he is still grouchy to the rest of the people on the bus. But he made and exception to chat with me. When I run late, he also took the effort to wait that one minute more to let me catch my breath when trying to catch the bus. So, being courteous does pay dividends. We just need to see it and know it to appreciate it. How about you? Have you ever been courteous to someone and that some one takes a little while to warm up to you?