Hey Peoples!

Recently back from visiting my parents in aged care for the first time in 10 months. They're 400 ks away from where we live. Always exhausting, so the coping toolbox comes out.

While there, I took myself out browsing in a nearby nursery. It was close to closing time, and when a staff member politely asked me what I wanted, I replied "Some relaxing browsing time at the end of a long day." 🙂 The browsing resulted in five small pots of plants, so I guess it was worth their while too.

Getting home... Coping Toolbox always includes knowing I'm going to be flat for a few days, so I need to be gentle on myself and not try to do too much.

And a funny one. I've realised another thing is that even when I've had a hard day, I try to be friendly and smily with register operators and suchlike. I worked on a register for a while, a friendly customer could make your day and a nasty one could ruin it... but I also walk away feeling better if I've had a brief, friendly interaction. Double bonus of that is that when its a regularly visited shop, the rego operators see me coming, and they have their smile all ready before I get to them. 🙂

(And I avoid self serve checkouts as much as possible... machines aren't good at social interaction.)