' "CATCH MORE FLIES WITH HONEY THAN WITH VINEGAR," Grandmother always said. '

excerpts from Ladies Home Journal  APR 10
BY Holly Robinson

The Politeness Project
A stressed-out, straight-talking mom takes the ultimate manners challenge and spends a week being nice to everyone she meets.

'For one full week I would make a point of remembering my manners, especially with people who seemed determined to make me forget them. I would attempt to disarm with charm--and see if my suddenly improved attitude would have any effect.

DAY 1    I DO NOT GO POSTAL
I never want to go to our local post office. It always has long lines and, to make matters worse, there's a belligerent clerk who works there. ... Then it's my turn. I gather my courage and step up to the counter. "Hi," I say in my most pleasant voice. "How are you?"
     She scowls. Clearly I've already overstepped her boundaries. I persist in my politeness experiment, scanning the dog photos taped to the wall beside her. "Is that your dog?" I ask sweetly as she weighs my package.
     To my surprise, the clerk tells me her dog is a Hurricane Katrina rescue. "He had to have surgery to repair his hip, but he's doing great now," she says. And then the real shocker. She breaks into a wide smile.
     The transformation is amazing--and all it took was one polite question that acknowledged her as an individual. Score one for Grandmother's advice.
     The afterglow of this first encounter lingers until I'm driving home and a driver cuts me off at an intersection.
Experiment forgotten, I honk my horn.

to be continued with Day 2 tomorrow....