The other day I had to drop off a return at the UPS store in my neighborhood.

I like going there because the people who run the place are unfailingly friendly, never

too busy to chat for a moment while they're scanning your

item and printing out a receipt. Technically, of course, their real job is getting packages where they

need to go in a reasonable amount of time. And I suppose this could be accomplished with a self-serve

kiosk of some kind. But every time I leave there after one of those brief exchanges, I feel seen.

My mood is boosted

just a bit for the rest of the day. From KERA in Dallas, this is Think. I'm Chris Boyd. Of course,

UPS defines itself as a package delivery and global supply chain management company. They might

struggle to even measure their franchisee's success in

connecting with customers as human beings. But just because something can't be quantified easily

doesn't mean it isn't valuable. Allison Pugh is professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University.

Her book is titled The Last Human Job, the work of Connecting in a Disconnected World.

Alison, welcome to think.

Thank you so much.

Define what you call connective labor.

What does it require of the people who do it?

Connective labor is when people see the other and the other person feels seen. So it's actually an interactive experience.

And it involves, you know, reflecting the other person and also actually a bit of emotion management

because you can't kind of necessarily let how you feel completely get out there if you're, you know,

you can control how you're feeling. So, but it's also about being seen. So it's, it's, it's,

a two way. You're doing something and the other person is receiving that vision of however,

...