Monday, May 5, 2014

Day 134: Waving at People in Cars

Having grown up in Montana, I'm used to the small community in which everybody waves to one another as they pass - whether in a car or on foot. Lately it's been wonderful to see people wave in the neighborhoods.

Today specifically, a little girl was in her driveway and her grandfather asked if she could wave to me... and she did.  He proceeded to tell me she normally doesn't wave at strangers - so I felt even more special then.

Something has happened within our society where we all walk into public spaces with our walls up high. We avoid eye contact on public transportation and use our smart phones or other devices to conveniently give excuse the fact we do not want to interact with humanity.

While I understand this guarded stature to a degree, I also feel like we've made our society to be even more isolating to others. God forbid we include someone in anything as small as a smile or eye contact. I try to be present and I understand times when I may not be feeling so outgoing or social, but I do think this is something we could work on combatting.

Perhaps people wouldn't be so depressed and lonely if they got the occasional smile and wave.  You just never know what that will mean to them.

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