Smile Diplomacy

Transitioning to home through London after Armenia this past week brought into sharp contrast the ways ordinary people in each country interact with strangers. Maybe it was the 2012 Olympics, but I suspect a more lasting social norm is at work in London that makes me feel quite welcome, that all problems can be solved. In fact, I suspect that perhaps for the Games, Londoners must have been required to take customer services courses if they were going to have a lot of public contact. Further, they all earned HIGH HONORS.

Imagine the British Tourism marketing guys persuading everyone in the courses that regardless of specific assignments, they, from the PM and the MPs down to the people who drive cabs and others who greet tourists at national sites and at all the eateries in between -- have the power to shape first and foremost the image of Britain that visitor will leave with. Brits pulling together one more time!

Seriously, though, smiles abound on a simple walk down the street , through a garden, or an experience with one of the points of interest, such as the Churchill War Rooms. If you stand to collect your wits in a Tube station, someone approaches you and asks if you need help. And if you are prone to smile at strangers wherever you are, you are going to feel like YOU HAVE FINALLY FOUND YOUR TRIBE because these folks are smiling back at you.

This behavior on the parts of the Brits may have been very noticeable regardless of where we had come from. But with respect to Armenia there was a marked contrast in the numbers of times eye contact was established (seldom in Armenia, almost always in London), or the number of people who simply smiled at the end of a business transaction (when not even a spoken thank you was present) or returned one of your smiles on the street.

Americans and others often poke fun at the understated polite Brit who apologizes for being a bit of a bother when he is in immediate need of major help--help perhaps to stop bleeding that started when he was sideswiped and knocked to the pavement by a now long-gone bike rider. When it comes to more normal exchanges--in the news shop, at the grocer's, the Tube ticket office, the copper who suggested we move outside the barrier for the final part of the changing of the Guard show so that no one would be standing in front of us, even booking a cab or retrieved a lost cell phone...EVERYONE we ran into was more than responsive. They responded with a smile and stayed engaged until they could feel certain that the issue got sorted out to everyone's desire. Everyone I ran into was not only polite but focused on helping me get my problem solved. There were actually helpful sales associates in a high-end women's clothing store who advised on sizes and checked inventories. From the dressing room I was able to push a buzzer and Ms Helpful showed up and went after other sizes, etc. (When did you see the last one of those in a large US store?)

I have no clue what this means and no desire to study it in depth. I just want to acknowledge the observed difference and how I responded. I already knew the Brits were my people, but now I would really love to take that attitude and spread my smile everywhere I go. Imagine...what might happen?