Backstory: There’s that old story about a test in a medical school in which a large portion of the grade is based on correctly answering one question: “What is the name of the woman who cleans up after us?”

The idea for this week’s Nudge came from that. I used to know the name of our postal carrier, the man who owned the drycleaning business down the street, the young woman who made my mochas at Peet’s, and the sweet man who greeted us so warmly at our favorite restaurant. But I’ve gotten out of practice. And there’s no excuse.

So this week I’m going to look for opportunities to step outside of my complacency zone and to talk with someone new.

P.S. To my readers who observe the holidays this week, Happy Passover / Happy Easter!