My brother had cross-country practice at 6am this morning, and since he can't drive by himself (yet), Mom took him there. She said she was going to go running while he practiced, and wondered if I would want to come along. In all my craziness, I said yes.
To make a long story not-so-long, we ran on a road that was a mile long (so, down and back, and to our car - ended up being about 2.5 miles). While we ran - wait, correction, I rollerbladed - we passed, maybe, 20 or so cars. I smiled and waved at all of them, and only one person smiled and waved back.
That's right, one person out of 20.
Sad, isn't it? Are we saying good-bye to people being friendly in small-town-usa? I can understand in the bigger cities if someone wouldn't smile and wave back. Although, no, living in a big city shouldn't be an excuse for being nice. Everyone should be nice! It's about loving your neighbor, right? Mom says I live in a 'sunshine, lollipops and rainbows' world. Where I just think everyone is nice and everyone is happy. Maybe I'm wrong... but I really think that everyone has cause to be happy - after all - they are alive and living in this beautiful world that God made. Yes, there is chaos and destruction, but doesn't every cloud have a silver lining? I don't know - I just sometimes wish people could be nicer and friendlier to one another (including myself - I do have crabby days too, promise).
I think one reason that people may not be as friendly is because they don't have the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit! But we have that joy - and it's contagious. It is fun to be cheerful with others (like cashiers and workmen) and watch them become more cheerful too :-)
ReplyDeleteI never wave high to random people- it's just weird :D haha, even if someone waves to me I just look like, "You're a creep." But those in my neighborhood and at the shooting range, well we all wave hi, even though we don't know each other at all- it's just what we Texans do. It's common courtesy.
ReplyDeleteThere's more to friendliness than waving. I'm a fan of random big grins. Keep on waving...spread cheer. It takes work but it's worth it. And that's coming from a big city sort of a girl.
ReplyDelete@Mac: very true
ReplyDelete@Ash: haha :D
@Caitlin: good point. thanks - I'll try!