When I passed a certain milestone birthday a few years ago, I made a few resolutions.  One of them was, talk to strangers more.  This has generally worked out very well.  It’s particularly good advice when speaking to working people.

By that I mean, people you encounter during your normal day-to-day routine who are busy doing their jobs.  In particular, the people who are serving you.  Sales clerks.  Waitresses.  Toll booth and parking lot folks.  Fluffers.  Parole agents.

Talk to them  Look them in the eye.   Speak to them as your peers (because they are).  Talk to the tired host at the restaurant like you’d be inviting him to join your table if his shift was about to end.

I’m serious.  It’ll make you happier and it’ll make them happier.

There’s an added benefit.  Several times lately, I’ve been given freebies by salespersons I’ve been chatting up.  Let me emphasize that this isn’t generally my goal, but it can be a surprise fringe benefit.

I was at one of my favorite health food establishments in Santa Rosa, California recently, and the girl behind the counter was enjoying chatting with me so much that she deliberately served me a treat that was a size larger than the one that she charged me for.  And just today, after I lavished praise on the clerk at a steakhouse in Midtown Sacramento for the business’s practice of including Diet Dr. Pepper among their soda selections, she gave me two drinks and charged me for one.

Of course, it’s not life-changing when you get these freebies, but they are a) nice surprises and b) handy reinforcements that you’re doing something right.

Also, let’s not forget the lesson we learned from Scott Prouty, the bartender who basically lost the election for Mitt Romney last year by filming and going public with the Governor’s “47%” remarks.  One of the reasons he was loaded for bear against Romney was because of an earlier incident in which Romney was rude to him when he served him a Diet Coke.  It simply didn’t occur to Romney to treat a bartender like a human being.  Perhaps if Romney had followed my advice, he’d be President now.

So trust me on this.  Talk to the people who are doing jobs for you every day.  It’s an easy way to improve your day.

And what of my other resolutions?  Well, out of respect for his privacy, I choose not to discuss the key “Start Returning Henry Cavill’s phone calls” resolution at this time.