WHSmith is in Penang y'all | Keep smiling y'all

Bismillah.

Boy was I surprised to see WHSmith the moment I disembarked and stepped on the newly refurbished Penang International Airport yesterday. Smith's is a major British book retailer. It's virtually everywhere in the UK. Founded in London in 1792, it's probably the country's oldest bookstore. This is what they say on their plastic bags: "Every year, you pick up 40 million unputdownable books from us."

Smith's at Penang International Airport
- Possibly the 1st outlet in Malaysia

And I have a proof that I wasn't the only one who's surprised and excited about it. 

Another Smith's fan

You noticed anything from their ads? "Every year you pick up 40 million unputdownable books from us." They could have said: "Every year we sell 40 million books." But of course Mr. Smith is smart enough to know that in business it's always about you and not me/we. So they say 'you pick up' and not 'we sell'.

Couldn't resist being part of the statistics of 40 million, I bought 'Thinking, Fast and Slow' by Daniel Kahneman, a winner of the Nobel Prize.

Am thinking slow this moment, because I've just got home and feeling tired. But it's refreshing that at last on my 6th flight within 9 days, the flight captain caught my attention. Now, how many of us actually pay attention to the in-flight announcements? But Captain Nukman was different, he had this energy, his brief speech striked the right tone. Yeah...yeah...you might say. What I'm trying to say is that I noticed another important point about effective communications. This I learned - be it written or spoken, we must strike the right tone. And we must sound fresh and speak from the heart even if we're saying something so common like what Captain Nukman was saying. Apart from talking about the usual stuff like the weather on the ground and the altitude, he said: "be cheerful and keep smiling." Yes.

The next time you fly, especially you frequent flyers out there, see how many flight captains actually compose their words in a refreshing manner. Oh well, maybe you couldn't be bothered...heh heh...sorry I'm rambling again.

Anyways, keep smiling y'all : )

p/s 

Captain Nukman also said this little weighty word. 

He said: "We will, InshaAllah, land at 6.30 pm."

Good to have a God-fearing flight captain, is it not?