Hold the door a few seconds longer
The standard distance for holding a door is about two seconds. Extending it to six costs nothing and is noticed every time.
The BeingKind editorsPublished How this is written
Why it lands
Door-holding has an unspoken range, and people just outside it — someone slower, carrying something, using a stick — watch it close as they approach. They are the people for whom a heavy door is actually a problem, and they are systematically outside the customary radius. Waiting the extra few seconds is trivially easy and lands precisely where it is needed.
How
Wait, without the impatient look at your watch that undoes it. If it is a heavy or revolving door, hold it open properly rather than passing the handle over. Say nothing — an expectation of thanks turns it into a transaction.
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