On habits....

I've been recently surprised at how much people around you observe what you do, and pick up on your habits or mannerisms. Here are some recent examples from my time in the desert:

1. The hostess at the sushi restaurant recognizes my voice on the phone and diligently remembers to substitute tuna with salmon in the Rainbow roll.
Rational me can explain this as follows - the odds are very high that only one Indian girl orders sushi for take-out every Monday from this particular restaurant. I didn't even think about the 'Indian' factor, until the hostess commented the other day that she knows very few Indians who enjoy sushi. Of course, in a town like Scottsdale, even one hand may be too much to count all the Indians she knows, and I'm simply being objective here.

2. The manager at Starbucks asks the barista to make my morning caffeine fix the moment he sees me walking in through the door.
He writes my name on the cup without prompting, and spells it correctly. Of course, it helps that I usually order the grande CDL light frap, which isn't even on the menu. Recently though, I've switched to the new Fall Spice flavor, which is pretty good. Anyways, customer loyalty after such service just went up a few notches. As S, R, and R would put it..."Hari Om!"

3. The admin assistant at work knows I'm approaching the office just by the sound of my footsteps.
I didn't realize that I walk with a typical rhythm , and changing heels doesn't impact her ability to know I'm on my way. Of course, the number of times I walk to the CIO's office on a daily basis should be enough practice for anyone who tracks sounds of footsteps!

4. I walk to most meetings with my laptop balanced on my lower left arm. Maybe this is just a consulting thing to do. But when someone at work suggested the other day that I lift weights with my right arm, to ensure that both my arms are well-balanced, I couldn't stop laughing :)

Oh, well!