“G’Day… Mick Dundee from “Straulia.”
A couple of years back we all sat outside in a remote desert camp with a friend, who has a large flat panel tv he can attach to the outside of his RV, and watched Crocodile Dundee.
It was quite the experience.
I don’t think I’d seen the movie since it was released in the late eighties. And while the movie itself is certainly not blog post worthy… that one line is.
It reminded me of something my father used to frequently tell my brother and I… something I wasn’t making use of often enough. (Hmmm… not making good use of a fathers advice, bet you never heard that one before.) Anyway, his advice: “Be the first to offer a handshake and your name”, he said. “You’ll be surprised how people open up to you.”
So I resolved myself to make much use of Mick Dundee’s line… with my own name and native country of course.
Pretty much every person I’ve met since… be it a border agent, cop, taxi driver, or random person on the street… I’ve greeted with a smile, a hearty handshake, and my name and country. I’ve done it so often my entire family now gives me endless shit for it.
And… My dad was right. (Another cliche… unheeded fatherly advice that turns out to work.) People really do open up and let their guard down when you go out of your way to introduce yourself.
Yes, it’s true some (usually border agents) are still dicks, but when I watch them with others I see that they were less dicky with us.
You’re right, it could be totally anecdotal. But I don’t think so.
As a coach… I spend the most time with my athletic charges – not on fitness, or technique – but on the language they use with themselves. The words you use when you talk to yourself go a LONG way towards determining how well you perform. In fact, research shows that calling yourself an idiot brings the same physiological responses as when someone else does.
So it should come as no surprise the words you use with others will go a LONG way towards how they perform with you.
In any event, even if my observations are anecdotal, spreading a little human kindness can never be a bad idea.
Before you run off and tell everyone that my latest dumb idea was to nominate Crocodile Dundee to be an ambassador to some place like… North Korea, there’s something you should know.
He’s dead.
Not Paul Hogan, but the genuine article… Rodney Ansell. Believe it or not, the guy Crocodile Dundee was based on, got mad at the government for supposedly reneging on some promise, ambushed and killed a cop. The officers partner returned fire and killed him.
Now… that might make some in the NRA want to sponsor him for honorary American citizenship, but I’m pretty sure even if he survived, such behavior would disqualify him from diplomatic service… even in North Korea.
But Paul Hogan on the other hand…