You Catch More Flies with Honey

 

 

You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.

It’s true, a good example of this was provided in the movie “To Sir with Love.”  The High School class was a bunch of misfits who were disrespectful and condescending to themselves and others.  They believed that things happened to them, that they were the victim of circumstance.  They looked outside themselves for the cause of what state of life they were in.

However, a pivotal point in the movie occurred when their teacher, played by Sidney Poitier, took them on a field trip. The students had to look presentable and were tasked with simple instructions in human interaction like asking for directions or holding a door open for someone.  One by one each student would try this simple exercise, first using their current behavior and then trying it again but changing it up a bit. What they discovered was by making a little tweak in how they represented themselves in approach, disposition, language and facial expression made all the difference in the world in how others responded to them.

When they used their current behavior they got ignored or put down but when they were cordial and polite, people responded in kind. I’m a firm believer in the honey approach.  If you’re not getting the reception you’d like perhaps you need to use some honey.