Finland really doesn't know what hit it. My husband Joel is an extreme extrovert even by American standards; Here in Finland he is a freak of nature! Joel complains about the "grumpy" Finns. He doesn't buy the "Finland is the Happiest Country in the World" ranking because it doesn't jive with his perception of Finns. He thinks Finns can't be happy because he doesn't seem them smiling or laughing that much. For example, his attemps to say hi to passers-by while dog walking aren't generallly reciprocated. Now he is on a one-man mission to inject some more positive energy into the Finland (in the middle of Covid.)
For example, today he took a stroll in his orange shorts. While we enjoyed really warm weather a week ago and had an oceanside picnic during which our eldest went swimming, today it snowed! It is a so-called "back winter". The snow melted by noon but still, it wasn't all that warm. Yet there Joel was in his orange golf shorts, with blue long johns underneath, on an early morning walk dancing to music only he could hear in his headphones. This would not be a typical sight in Finland where the general culture abhors drawing attention to yourself. I'm convinced people who saw him - and Joel says he saw people smiling - thought he was literally insane. I guess his refusal to back-down is kind of working since he's managed to meet a few people around the neighborhood to a point where they've introduced themselves to him and now, for example, comment when he isn't wearing his shorts!
Joel has also taken the grocery stores into his aim. He likes to go in and ask for a lot of help. (Shopping can be challenging for him since he can't read the packaging and a few times he's returned with unintended vegan or organic versions of things he went to buy...) This is polar opposite to me and likely most Finns who would be at loathe to ask for assistance: I think we'd all rather suck it up and wonder aimlessly up and down the aisles to find something independently than to admit defeat and talk to a stranger. Meanwhile Joel has tried chatting up most of the store employees and found a few people who are either friendly, just polite or perhaps just the ones who feel comfortable speaking English and these folks are are now his go-to resource. (BTW, I think the whole store cuts him more slack thanks to him being an obvious foreigner. For example if I forget to weigh my vegetables in the vegetable department to get a price sticker, the cashier would send me back to do it. But with Joel they just grab the veggies and run out to do it for him.) As it is, he's got three new "friends" at the store. There is the meat/fish department guy who helps Joel with cooking suggestions and there is the vegetable guy who taught Joel his new favorite dish: root vegetable soup with finnish peppercorn cream cheese. But his absolute favorite is Jorna, the cashier.
Joel always gets in Jorna's line to pay. Jorna is a middle aged woman who has apparently worked in the store for 17 years. They chat almost daily. Joel knows about her various health concerns and no doubt she knows more about our family that she'd ever care to. My guess is that on any given day, he might be the only one who talks to her beyond a curt "hello" and "thank you". One day before Christmas Joel out of the blue, I guess being thankful for having a friend to small talk with, decided to do something nice for Jorna. There is a flowershop next to the grocery store and he got her a modest little potted hyacinth from there. He gave it to her and told her "thank you for your 17 years of service". I wonder if she's ever gotten a gift or any acknowledgement of her efforts in her somewhat monotonous role from a customer? Jorna of course was delighted: it made her day especially because the hyacinth is apparently her favorite flower. Joel was happy for having brought a smile onto a Finnish face. I think Joel's fighting an uphill battle and will continue to be disappointed in many people not returning his attempts to engage them. But I'm happy he is undeterred and continues to smile and chat and chisel away to bring Finns out of their shells. Who knows, maybe he is succeeding and increasing Finland's happiness scores one grocery employee at a time? Maybe some Finns even see him in action and next time themselves make more of an effort at a human connection with a stranger. Whatever the result is, it can't hurt anyone for him to cultivate smiles all around Espoo.
Joel got his friendliness and hospitable ways from his recently deceased mom. I, his dad, probably passed on that a bit of craziness can bring some smiles and lighten up the serious side of life. Bottom line is Joel has a spirit that is awesome. Glad to hear about the grocery clerk connection, I was a grocery clerk growing up and it can be a pretty mundane job without interaction with the customers.