Have you ever had an experience where your reaction surprised you…in a good way?
Recently I stopped in my local deli to pick up some food for the weekend.
I patiently waited for the deli man to serve the customer in front of me.
When it was my turn, I stepped to the counter, and as I was giving the deli man my order, he picked up his ringing cell phone and started to speak to the caller. Then he looked at me and asked, “Do you mind?”
And in a calm, clear voice I said, “Yes, I do mind.”
My reply surprised the deli man – and astonished me.
For the past 50 years my default reply when someone asked, “Do you mind?” was, some version of, “No…I don’t mind.”
And while some of those “No-I-don’t-minds” were true, like when a friend took a call from her child to make sure she arrived at her destination safely, most of my “No-I-don’t-mind’s” were a lie.
I did mind. Sometimes I minded a lot.
But I was a “good girl” and good girls don’t mind.
But now I’m a good woman, and sometimes good women do mind.
And when they do, they say so.
You Matter.
