When I arrive to Manhattan, I go through a number of people trying to give me a free newspaper. The most popular free papers in NYC are Metro and AM New York. Even though the papers are free , it ‘s still a sale process and everyone does it differently.

In the morning, people are in a rush – they want to get to their place of work ASAP, the do not need any interruptions. These street paper-givers are probably getting the lowest possible wage, but it ‘s interesting to see that regardless of what you sell, free newspaper or expensive diamonds, you have to achieve the ultimate goal – get attention of your potential customer. Some people are just standing with a boring look on their faces, and people who want the paper, take it from the seller ‘s hands. But there is this black woman, who made this boring job fun for herself and for people – she ‘s giving away her papers while dancing.

Do you say No to a woman who is dancing and smiling to you? Usually I don ‘t, but this morning I said, “No thank you. ” She smiled to me and said, “Even though you did not take my paper, Sir, have a great day! ” By saying this, she made my day.

This made me thinking about my last year visit to Russia. I have not been to this country for fifteen years, and people kept saying that it ‘s a very nice place for tourists with great museums, restaurants, etc. Well, I was not too impressed. As a matter of fact, I was disapointed by people ‘s attitude. For example, we are standing at the bus stop in Moscow waiting for the bus. This lady sells bus tickets in a booth right there. My wife asked her politely, “Excuse me, when the next bus is coming? “. She ‘s got an angry answer, “How am I supposed to know? “. Here ‘s another one. The main avenue in St. Petersburg – Nevsky Prospect. We are entering an ice cream cafe ($4 a portion of an ice cream and $2 for coffee). I ‘ve ordered a three scoop portion from the menu – banana, strawberry and vanilla. The waitress brings me a plate with three different scoops and places it on the table without saying a word. When I said that this is not what I ‘ve ordered, she answered “This is all we had in the kitchen “. Russians built nice buildings and restaurants, but it takes generations to make people smile to you and serve you if they are at work.

I prefer New York with that black dancing woman. Her positive attitude to a boring low-paid job makes the quality of her and many people ‘s life better.