A Phone Prospector Is Still A Human
Yesterday, a salesman called me by phone, on behalf of a telecom company, to sell his phone plans. I was at work and while I usually don't like to spend time with those conversations, I excused myself that I couldn't talk yet and proposed him to call me back one hour later, at 6pm. That's what he did. So we talked 15 minutes. He explained to me his different phone plans, which he stated to be better than my current one. While listening to him, sometimes I was lost in my thoughts, I gave several "hmm hmm",as a sign of approbation and to confirm to him that I was still there. Sometimes, I felt a bit impatient, especially as he had a bit of difficulties to correctly talk in French. But I stayed calm and polite until the end of the discussion. At the end of the conversation, he revealed the following ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by OlivierChhu
- Mar 11, 2020
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The One Minute I Gain When I Drive Faster.
Last Monday, to prepare a picnic, I decided to go into a superstore which was on my way home. I parked my car in the big parking lot and went into the superstore. It was a huge one, spread onto 2 stories and 200,000+ sq-ft. After 45 minutes of shopping (which looked like an authentic escape game) to just get some tomatoes, cheese and 3 toothpicks - yes the ratio time/articles is ridiculous - I arrived to the cashier line, thoughtful and a bit frustrated by the time I spent to get 3 articles. I wondered why I did not go to a small local store. After 15 minutes of waiting in the line, the woman in front of me calls me: "Hey... you only have 5 articles? Pass before me, I have way more articles than you!" It wasn't the first time it happened to me. But her initiative was disarming, as well ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by olivierchhu
- Jul 23, 2020
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The Little Prince Gift
This story happened last February at my office. Yesterday at noon, during lunch, one of my italian co-workers expressed her wish to read The Little Prince (classical French story) in French to practice and improve her French. This small sentence enlightened my day, and I thought about it the whole afternoon. In the evening, straight after work, I went to look for the book in a bookstore, imagining her reaction when she would discover it on her desk the next morning. So the next day morning, I woke up more joyful than ever, motivated to arrive earlier at the office, so that nobody could see me leaving the gift. This small gesture was really rewarding to me. Not only the simple fact of giving the gift (my pleasure, but without expecting anything in return), but also the fact of me putting myself in her place when she would discover the gift laid on her ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by olivierchhu
- May 5, 2020
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Farewell Party With Random Acts Of Kindness!
Last Wednesday (17th of June) was the last day of my latest job, based in Belfort (in East of France). Since then, I came back to Paris, where I'll start a new job soon, in another company. Due to the sanitary conditions, the building where I worked was still locked and I obtained a special authorization to spend few hours to pack my stuff. It was strange to enter in the building for the first time since the beginning of the lockdown, three months ago. The desks and other stuff were left in place as if people would come back the day after. Still, nobody had entered the building in 3 months! The ambience was cold, like an abandoned place after a zombie invasion. Nevertheless, it gave me plenty of time alone to do some last random acts of kindness before leaving the company. I was excited like a kid on a playground. In ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by olivierchhu
- Jun 29, 2020
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Compassion At Work
Earlier this week, I created a new experience at work. In the morning, I asked a colleague whether he was doing well. He started to complain and to comment on his day in a negative way. I could feel some dark clouds in his mind and he was about to drag me into his negative thoughts. But I reacted pretty calmly, patted his back, took a sheet of paper and wrote at the top of it “GRATITUDE”. I drew 3 bullets and asked him to reflect on 3 positive things over the course of his day, and then to come back to me when he filled the sheet. Before he left in the evening, he came to my desk with the sheet, not only with 3, but with 5 positive thoughts on his day. His face totally changed and I felt a clear sky in his mind. I was really moved. I felt like this ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by olivierchhu
- Mar 24, 2020
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Lighter Makes Happier!
As I recently had to move out from my flat, it was an occasion to dive into all the stuff that I had accumulated over time. I found many objects, which had made themselves forgotten with time. Among them were books, maps, bottles of drinks, guidebooks, cinema tickets, toys, goodies, etc. Rather than keep them or sell them, I found it better to give them to whom it would be useful (apart from me). I made a few piles and I knew that each person whose name stood on the labels, would have good use of what was there. Delivering them was also fun, as I took few piles in my backpack each evening and went to deliver them at my friends homes, like a postman. A great occasion to hang out! Besides these gifts, I gave away many clothes to charity associations, gave away sport shoes, gifted two bikes to my friends, sold ... Read Full Story >>
- Posted by olivierchhu
- Jun 6, 2020
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