The way you talk to the drive-thru worker is the truest audition you’ll ever give.

How you treat someone who cannot do anything for you is the most reliable information about you available, precisely because there is no reason to perform. People notice it more than they let on, and they use it to predict how you will treat them when you no longer need anything. There is no way to practice only for the moments that count.

Pay attention to your tone in the interactions you consider unimportant: the counter, the phone queue, the person cleaning up. Slow down by a second and use ordinary courtesy. It costs nothing and it is the version of you that people believe.