Glitter

Yesterday when I was waiting in line at the airport, there was a family behind me with a very worrisome mom, dad, and two grown-up kids. There was also a younger boy, about 10 or 11, in this family. The parents and two grown-ups were worrying about everything imaginable. And then the little boy chimed in. To which one of his older brothers said, "YOU don't need to worry about anything."

And I thought, "How could he not worry? He probably doesn't know any differently."

OK. So maybe I shouldn't be making snap judgements about people I don't know. People are different when they travel. Grumpier. More impatient. More worrisome. Maybe they are perfectly pleasant people under non-travel conditions.

But the fact of the matter is, our attitudes do spread to those around us. Just like glitter. You can not open a Christmas card that has glitter on it and not find it all over yourself. As Demetri Martin says "Glitter is the herpes of craft supplies." It is impossible to use glitter and not have it spread. (Which is why I hate glitter.)

And in much the same way, it seems to be impossible not to spread a bad attitude. Especially when travelling. Good attitudes can spread, too, although they're not nearly as contagious.

So the question is, what kind of attitude are you spreading? And how aware are you of the glitter all over your clothes and face when someone around you can't seem to find anything good to say?