If you’ve never seen an episode of NBC’s Parks and Recreation please stop reading this (but do come back to it later) log on to Netflix immediately with your roommate’s “borrowed” account info and check out season two. The first season is worth a look too but mainly I’d like to introduce you to the character of Chris Traeger (played brilliantly by the never-aging Rob Lowe) who appears in the second episode of season two as the Pawnee Parks & Rec department’s new boss. He’s an extremely fit, health-food obsessed, over-the-top optimist who can’t comprehend sarcasm or why anyone would eat red meat over a vegan burger. Paired with the (mostly) under-achieving and unenthusiastic staff of the Parks & Rec department, Chris’ overflowing positivity is a regular annoyance to his colleagues. However, though they may find Chris Traeger’s attitude to be irritating rather than inspiring, I’ve found that there is value to his method of thinking. Just think “Literally” To be an educated adult working in the service industry can, at times, feel like a modern form of torture. After a countless blur of “Do you want fries with that?” you start to wonder if all of that brain growth gained via your $45,000/yr college education is rapidly receding with each table turned. After days and weeks of this you find yourself sporadically flipping between a state of fragile mental stability and all out hysteria. When that old woman at table 212 insists that all of her toppings must be on separate side plates you clench your teeth, smile sweetly and hold back the urge to run screaming from the restaurant. When your party of teenagers asks for another basket of bread - for the 8th time - you get it rather than again, running screaming from the restaurant, this time all the way to the airport and a plane bound for the forests of Vietnam where you will live the remainder of your years totally secluded. The mundane, repetitive and taxing nature of the food industry is incredibly wearing and it’s no wonder that long-time employees often find themselves becoming hostile and bitter to most other human beings. But this is not fair, to the employees or to the people their job services. This is where Chris Traeger comes in. In the show, whenever somebody asks him for something, no matter how outrageous or unpleasant the favor may be, Chris replies, “There is LITERALLY nothing I would rather do!”… or some variation of that. It’s very silly how he says it and I haven’t (yet) used the expression out loud but I decided to try thinking it regularly at work. I really love what it does. Not only does it give me an inward giggle but I’ve found that my interactions are consistently more positive. It’s particularly useful when i’m faced with an especially frustrating request or it’s the end of the day and my exhaustion is outweighing my patience. I find that when I reply with an enthusiastic affirmation, “Of course!” “Absolutely!” “Certainly!”, even if I don’t feel genuinely excited about the request, if I do my best to sound energetic and genuine then I actually start to feel energetic and genuine. I know that this is not some new discovery. It’s sort of a riff on “fake it till you make it.” But I’d have to say my favorite thing about it is that it forces me to put others before myself. This sounds so simple but it’s not always an easy task in the self-focused society that we live in. The Chris Trager attitude is one that is inherently other-focused. It’s made me feel patient and kinder. So no matter the situation, whether its your boss asking you for that report that suddenly has a earlier deadline or maybe it’s your spouse telling you to wash the dishes after a bad day, smile and think: “That is LITERALLY the only thing I want to do right now!”
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