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The Kiss of Change

29 November, 2021

According to a social media thread, a high school in America was faced with an unusual problem after a particular trend had formed amongst teenage girls. Each day a group of girls would visit the bathroom and decorate the large mirror with ‘kiss marks’ after putting on strong coloured lipstick and then pressing their lips to the mirror. It is said that every night, the janitor would remove the lipstick marks, only to find them replaced the next day!

The teachers tried all manner of interventions to stop the behaviour, to no avail. The girls were cautioned and scolded, pleaded with, and politely asked to stop. Nothing changed their behaviour.

Finally, the principal decided that something had to be done.

She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the janitor. She explained that the lip prints were causing a major problem for the poor guy who had to clean the mirrors every night, and to illustrate how difficult the mirror cleaning task was for him, she asked the janitor to demonstrate his efforts.

He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror!

It just goes to show that learning is expedited when the same language is spoken, and that behavioural change can happen in a heartbeat.

Top Tip! When you hear someone say change is hard/takes a long time/is difficult, share this story!