It Seems Like I’ve Known You Forever! 83
got our conversation up and running. I was now able to ask her
for more information. She had invited me into her world! Now
I could ask,
Why do you love weekends? Tell me your secret!Fishing? What do you love about that?Camping? Oh, I know a great camping spot.Do you see what she did? She gave a little extra informa-
tion, which gave me material to work with. Understand, you do
not need to use a lot of words—you can do it in one sentence!
The next time someone you just met asks, “How are you?”
give them a little extra information. Let that person know that
you appreciate them asking. Try something like
Excellent, because I got my hike in this morning.A little sad because my son is moving out.Excited because I go on vacation tomorrow.Now, please note, I said a LITTLE extra information. When
I’m checking out my “6 items or less” at the supermarket, and
I ask the cashier how she’s doing, I’m not looking for,
I’m just so glad it’s Friday because I haven’t had a day off
in 5 days. And I’ve been here since 7:00 a.m. and I still
haven’t had a break—and it should be my lunchtime but
since there’s no one else to cover the register....