It started about five years ago. When I started running, for fun. Since then, I've easily logged hundreds of miles up and back along the beautiful river front where I often drive passengers today. At the beginning of those five years of running, I starting saying "hi" to nearly everyone who'd pass by me. At first I did it because I'd read somewhere that if you look a potential attacker in the eye, he's less likely to attack you because you could identify him later on. Saying "hi" forced me to look at anyone passing by.
Soon, though, something changed. I realized that saying hello, through my huffs and puffs made me feel good, alive, part of humanity. I felt as though I could relate on some level to anyone I greeted because we were sharing the same path along the river.
The feeling is even more evident in races, where saying hello or thank you to traffic police and volunteers almost gives me a rush. These folks, for some reason or another are not able to participate in the actual event, but are out there on race days whether it's 95 degrees or 5 degrees. Regardless if it's mile 3 or 23, if I pass a volunteer I say hello or thank you. I'm not sure why it makes me feel good to say these words, but it energizes me to know that, because of these people, I can experience the pure enjoyment that I get from running.
While driving the bike taxi, my "hello" is accompanied by the "ding ding" of the bell on my bike. Sadly, about 75 percent of the time, I get a blank stare or a confused look, as if I'm riding by on a smoke breathing, flying dragon. Some folks get the courage to muster up a little smile, but it's unbelievable to me how few actually wave, or return the greeting. The only exception is children. They smile and wave and point and even jump up and down. Now I'm not saying their parents should be jumping up and down when they see a rickshaw driving down the street, but a "hi" or a smile, even if it's to see their kids so excited, would be lovely!
While driving over a beautiful, old, huge bridge last night, I saw an extremely ordinary looking man, minding his business, probably on his way to the parking lot on the other side of the bridge to drive home from work at the state. "Ding ding, hello!" is my pretty typical greeting. Given the normal reaction I get, I was forced to slam on my breaks when about three seconds later, after the man had processed the one word I called out, he yelled, "THANK YOU!" I turned to see him stopped, hands up in the air and looking at the sky. I said, "excuse me?" He yelled again, "THANK YOU!" I thought, wow, he's got to be crazy or is being sarcastic. So I was prepared to be entertained when I asked him, "Thank you for what?" He turned very calm and normal again, and explained how nice it was to hear someone say hello. I explained that I couldn't agree more. We had a little discussion about how many people ignore me or look at me like I'm nuts when I say hi, and he completely understood my sentiments.
The point is, you never really know what kind of impact just one word, like "hello" or a smile or a wave will have on someone's day. It's doubtful and I hope this isn't the case, but for all I know, that man on the bridge could have been so depressed and miserable he was thinking of jumping... until one little word brightened his day.
No comments:
Post a Comment