If you can fake sincerity...

   Well, the US Open is over and here I am standing in front of the 7th green with my trophy...  OK, it really is the actual trophy, with all the winners from every year engraved on it, and I really am holding it, but that's a giant poster behind me.   If you had a chance to see any of the tournament, you saw plenty of views like this.   And if you are one of those people for whom watching golf is like watching paint dry, only not as much fun—maybe you accidentally caught a glimpse while channel surfing or waiting for World Cup scores on the news.
   It was an interesting experience and hard work.  We did 15,000-25,000 transactions a day in the merchandise tent.   The volunteers working there were mostly age 35 and up—emphasis on the 'up'—but Pebble Beach had hired 14 college interns to serve as management for those volunteers.  I've always had a prejudice against cheap affirmation, but I suppose these students–who have grown up in an era when educators' greatest fear is damaging their students' self-image—don't know anything else.  When they tried to affirm the volunteers in their charge—most of whom were three times their age or more—it sometimes sounded like they were talking to their golden retriever.  "Good job!  Yes, who's a good boy?!"
  I may be a little sensitive about this.  I'm trying to be better about genuine affirmation, without falling into cheap flattery.  So I practiced creative affirmation myself.  It did make it more enjoyable relating to the other volunteers, and they will remember me.  I think the actual managers appreciated it too.  When I went back today for the after-tournament half-off sale for volunteers and employees, one of the managers spotted me, his face lit up and he came over and shook my hand.  Which itself was genuine affirmation...