Sugar vs. Salt

My Mother always told me,

"You get more with Sugar than you do with Salt."

Of course when I was younger, this made zero sense. But as I have grown into the mature young woman that i am ;) i have come to not only understand, but advocate for this saying. So what does it mean exactly? This is my interpretation: In life, you will get further ahead and gain more by being kind, happy, and positive rather than being egoistic, irritated, contentious, or rude. I have seen this play out in many different situations.

-All my coworkers and i agree on this whole-heartedly. Dear Callers- Make it easier for us to Want to help you by treating us with kindness and respect. Will I go out of my way to assist an ungrateful caller? Perhaps. But I would be Much more willing to help a kind soul. If you yell at me, I stonewall. Being nice puts the relationship on a more personal level. When on a personal level, you care more for the needs of the other person and will do more for them.

-My mother is a prime example of this; we often call her Perky Penny. This is because she treats everyone like they are her bestest friend. This woman knows how to and strives to serve people. She is constantly smiling and even talking to strangers she should probably just avoid (aka Harlem, NY subway). Although it is sometimes annoying or not feasibly ideal for her safety, I would much rather have That than a cynical life-loathing mom. So Penny can stay. And I am amazed at the 'perks' that Perky Penny gets. Everywhere we go, she knows someone... that loves her... for some reason... and wants to get her a discount of some kind... or help her in some way. The janitors at her school would do anything for her, the guys at big-o help her in a heartbeat, and people practically line up to help her with the lawn. Karma! Yes, she believes in the whole 'you reap what you sow' deal. You do good, you feel good, you get good. And she is a living example of it.

-Don't shoot the messanger, no matter how tempting. Lets now play the role of the frustrated customer (which i have oft been). If you can't answer my question, am i mad at You? No. Just the problem that you are kindly trying to help me solve. Might i be tempted to take it out on you? Yes. But folks- these people did not offend our ancestors back to Adam. They owe us nothing. And we will get even less by losing our patience. Plus- in the next life, you will meet them and feel bad that the only experience they had with you on earth was one of you telling them they were useless and slow. Fantastic.

So now let me tell you about the problem with society. The problem with society is the individualistic hedonism (selfish- pursue pleasure, avoid pain) nature and lifestyle we have taken on. We want what we want, when we want, where we want, how we want. Hello fast food. Its all about me me me and how can I benefit. Why do you think there are so many divorces these days in the world? Because people think (generalized) that once a marriage stops directly benefiting them, there is no point in staying with it. Makes sense, right? wrong. What happened to altruism? Heaven forbid we help someone without reaping a reward of some sort. People also have this mindset that they are the exception. If the form says i will not assist you unless given a two weeks notice period, it means it! "But i really need this..." "I forgot about it..." excuses excuses. If a term paper is due, then it is due. No i can't pull strings or weasel you out of this. (Realistically most of the time I can, but only if you are nice to me.) Thats the other thing- even if I can allow you to be the exception, you best treat me well and not expect me to do it. But those that Expect me to bust my bootay for you and then yell at me because it didn't work out- Exsqueeze me! (steps off soapbox).

Moral of the story: You get more with sugar than you do with salt.