New 6 principle interactions:

Over the weekend I applied all 6 components of “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and once again, I got mixed reviews. The first two were positive experiences in which I tried, and successfully, learned more about two of my managers at work. The first was with my manager Jeff, I struck up a light conversation and learned a few things, like how he came to work there, and also briefly about his wife and kids. The second interaction was with another manger named, Ken. Ken was talking about his upcoming birthday and I showed a genuine interest in his plans and ended up learning a few things about him, which I wouldn’t have known otherwise. The final three interactions didn’t go as smoothly probably because I wasn’t already acquainted with the person. One was at a smoothie stand at Columbia Mall. I approached the young girl, smiled, said hello and went on to chit chat about how she liked her job. She seemed a little wierded out that a total stranger was interested in her life. Another attempt was at Panera off of route 40. I tried different approach, more subtle, hoping not to freak out the cashier. She seemed slightly more responsive than the smoothie girl, but still had a confused look on her face. Finally, the last attempt was with a cashier at Mars supermarket. She was the most friendly when she noticed I was smiling and not trying to be weird. I asked her if it was hard standing on her feet all day and then she went on to tell me about some of her break schedules and how the breaks really help her feet. Overall, I still find this technique to be really creepy and that people get really uncomfortable with total strangers approaching them this way.