Fill My Bucket

Before I left for Arizona, we had to do some required reading. We had to read a book called, "How Full is Your Bucket?" The concept of the book was about positive reinforcement and being more positive in the workplace and in your own personal life. We had a whole session on it and it was very interesting.

Anyway - I was proud to say that I took the concepts from the book and was able to use them with this experience:

I was on the last leg of my journey home. I had to switch planes in Chicago Midway Airport and the flight was 20 minutes delayed. We finally got on the plane and I put my rolling suitcase in the overhead bin. I plopped myself down next to an older couple and I said hello. The lady looked at me and said, "Did you bring all your luggage on the airplane with you?" I answered, "Yes." I kind of thought it was a weird question. I mean - why the heck does she care if I have my luggage or not? She then shook her head and said, "That is just not right!" I was totally taken aback and said, "Excuse me?" She said, "That is just not right. You shouldn't do that." HUH? I started to get angry and said, "Well - my suitcase is a legal carry on and fits in the overhead bins and I try not to check luggage if I don't have to and everyone else does it." The more I tried to explain it, the more the woman shook her head and then just sighed and closed her eyes.

So - the flight took off and I took out my Ipod and watched a movie and then tried to sleep and read my book. All the while, I was still annoyed at this mean woman. I mean - why the heck did she care about my luggage?????

We had about 45 minutes of flying time left and I was bored. I was tired of reading and I couldn't fall asleep, so I tried something different. I started talking to the mean lady. I asked her if she lived in Albany and before you knew it- we were having a full-fledged conversation about her grandson, about my kids, about her house, about my anniversary - basically about everything! She turned out to be very nice.

Oh - and why was she so mean to me???? Because she was annoyed at Southwest for something Customer Service related and she took it out on me. She apologized for yelling at me and told me she was frustrated at Southwest. I told her not to worry about it. We all have our bad days.

I got off the plane feeling really happy. I had filled her bucket. She had filled mine. By opening myself up to her and trying to talk to her - it turned out to be a good thing. She was actually very nice. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and decided that she wasn't so mean after all. If I hadn't started talking to her - I would have left the airplane annoyed and in a bad mood. Instead, I was happy and free of annoyances.

Try it sometime. Fill someone's bucket. You will be amazed at the results.