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Whole Foods Style. . .

 


 

After a morning and early afternoon of Zoom meetings with various committees and a couple of working groups, I drove the 10 minutes into East Lansing to Whole Foods to pick up some things for the evening meal.  At the checkout counter, the cashier (female, approximately mid-20s) complimented the attire shown and asked where I'd been today.  

I thanked her and replied that I had been in online meetings all day at home, and added that this was the first opportunity, just after 4pm, I had managed to get out of the house.  Big smile from her with the reply "Well, now you've had a compliment!"

The admittedly flirty exchange outlined above supports a point that I make here with some regularity.  One, women of almost any age notice a man dressed somewhat more nicely that has become the average.  Two, dressing even reasonably well can turn mundane tasks into pleasant exchanges.  

As I mentioned in a recent post, preaching to the choir here I am well aware.  But if a guy is thinking about upping his style game just a tiny bit but remains undecided, I'd certainly urge him to follow through with that inclination.  

It can't hurt.

And who knows?  Unanticipated personal and professional opportunities or possibilities just might present themselves.  At the very least you risk leaving other people with smiles on their faces after speaking with you.  And that's not a bad thing in an otherwise increasingly uncivil 2025.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

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