I recently had interactions with a celebrity who is well known today but who used to be world famous.

Those interactions reminded me of a comment Johnny Carson once made.

Carson didn't go out in public often, but when he did, he never turned down people asking for an autograph, a picture, or just wanting to say hello.

He explained that it takes just as long to be rude as it does to be nice to someone.

And people will forever remember you by how you treated them.

He reasoned, why wouldn't you be nice?

In this case, I noticed a guy boarding the plane in front of me on my connection in Denver.

I did a double take and realized it was former Olympic gold medalist and ice skating legend Scott Hamilton.

This guy carried the American flag during the opening ceremony of what became the Miracle on Ice Winter Olympics in 1980.

And, yes, I knew that.

We ended up chatting near baggage claim after he told me he liked my "Good People Win" cap.

Later, we talked some more on the hotel shuttle.

It turns out Scott and I had spoken on the same conference agenda a few years earlier, but we had never actually met.

On this trip, I was there to work, and he was on a family vacation.

The next day, I looked up and saw him in the hotel lobby.

Without missing a beat, he smiled and said, "Hey, how'd the speech go?"

I smiled and thought, “Wow, this guy is ridiculously nice.”

We chatted for a bit, and I had the fun of introducing him to a few people who were excited to meet him.

These interactions reminded me that most people don't expect rudeness.

They expect indifference.

That's why someone who is genuinely kind stands out.

In business, customers may not remember every detail of their interactions with you.

They will remember, however, whether you made them feel listened to and respected.

It might be an extra thirty seconds of conversation, remembering someone's name, or asking about something they mentioned the last time you spoke.

Those small investments often produce relationships that can last for years.

In an industry where products increasingly seem identical, how people feel when they interact with you becomes one of the few advantages your competitors can't easily copy.

How will your actions stand out today?

I managed to avoid taking a cruise for the first five decades of my life.

Then I was talked into one. Afterward, I said I was glad I had done it but wouldn't do it again.

Four years later, I had to eat those words. But after that cruise, I was done.

Having now returned from my third cruise in six years, I'm just going to stop talking about my future cruising plans.

I can see why a segment of the population is so passionate about cruising.

I can also see why another segment considers it a form of voluntary incarceration in cruise wear... with a drink package.

For the most part, it didn't feel crowded at all.

But one place could make you claustrophobic.

There simply weren't enough elevators for the ship's 18 decks.

Waiting for one and then squeezing on became the least vacation-like part of the week.

A few days into the trip, I joked with a family member that I was surprised I hadn't witnessed a fight anywhere on the ship.

The videos in my social media feeds led me to believe most cruises were basically MMA events at sea.

If one had broken out, I was convinced it would start at the elevators.

Then something happened that reminded me of the power of a simple gesture.

My wife and I had just shoehorned ourselves into an uncomfortably packed elevator.

As I counted the seconds until the door would open again, my wife looked down and told the young mom with her daughter in front of us, “Oh…I love your shoes. Those are wonderful.”

She was wearing a pair of Crocs that she had personalized.

That young lady lit up and thanked my wife with the most genuine smile you’ll ever find on a packed elevator.

The annoyance on that elevator seemed to disappear.

When the door opened and the young lady stepped out, she told my wife, “You’re my new best friend!”.

Everyone laughed.

One compliment turned an unpleasant situation into a nice moment.

Everybody on that elevator was experiencing exactly the same situation.

Nobody's circumstances changed.

The elevator didn't get bigger. The wait wasn't any shorter.

Yet everyone's experience changed because one person chose to notice and comment on something positive instead of dwelling on the inconvenience.

That's a habit worth practicing.

How many positive moments can you create for the people around you today?