Tone is everything.

Tone is everything. If more people understood its power, not only would life be softer, kinder, less stressful, but productivity would increase exponentially. I'm convinced of it. To further illustrate, studies show that when our words contradict our tone, people always believe tone. Always.

This past weekend, Gerald and I traveled to Everett, Washington to visit his family. Well right here is a picture of his mom, him, and his two siblings:

It was a such a nice weekend. I visited with people I hadn't seen in at least 15 years, and with others I had never even met! All in all, it was lovely, and the tone? Perfect!

We also dealt with some different professionals, whose tone varied markedly. Since Gerald booked a flight at the ungodly hour of 5:30 a.m., we couldn't ride Trax to the airport, and instead drove ourselves and parked in long-term, economy parking. We left home at 3:30 a.m. (Ugh!), and by 4:15, found ourselves riding an airport parking shuttle to the terminal. Can we just stop for a half second and pay homage to a lady named Jenny?

Jenny understands the importance of tone. She was the driver of that middle-of-the-night shuttle, and her welcoming tone made everyone happy, even at that ghastly hour. Really, if you have to get up at 3:30 a.m. for any reason at all, be sure you catch a ride on a shuttle driven by Jenny. She greeted us with a genuine "Good morning," and enthusiastically (though not over the top; it was 4:15 a.m. after all) explained that she would circle the parking lot, making a few more stops, then deliver us to the terminal at just the right place to easily find our airline and even grab a cup of coffee. As we departed, she wished us a good flight and thanked us for riding with her. And here's the thing; I believed her! Thank you, Jenny.

Contrast that with the experience we had moving through security. Goodness! These TSA personnel need some legit training on the impact of tone. I witnessed some of the most demanding, rude, disrespectful behavior I've ever encountered. As we passed through the first security stop, I nearly jumped out of my skin as this guy in a TSA uniform was yelling at me: "Shoes off! Phones, laptops, all electronics in trays! Jackets removed!" I get that moving travelers through the security scan as quickly as possible benefits everyone, but shouting at people to the point of scaring them will surely not speed up the process. It took every ounce of restraint I had not to say, "Could you speak to me in a respectful tone? I don't like to be yelled at."

The word "please" goes such a long way. With few exceptions, most people, whether age 2 or 92, don't like to be told what to do. Some deal with it better than others, but no, most don't enjoy it. Do these TSA employees ever smile? Are they perpetually angry? Or does their pseudo authority make them feel powerful, so they think it's okay to yell at people? This whole security charade seems pretty much pointless, but if we must participate, at least they could behave like mature adults. Be kind, say please and thank you, and for heaven's sake, stop yelling.

End of rant.

It was such a fun trip. I'm so glad I went. Thank you, Erichsen Family, for hosting us.

Also, big shout out to Jenny the shuttle driver for her marvelous tone. They should pay you to run a training seminar for all TSA employees.