Can’t You Speak
What’s the cost of a smile, one dollar, one million dollars? What about, a, “hello, how are you,” or just a simple nod? Can you put a price on these things? When you come face to face with someone, what does it cost to acknowledge their presence, a nod, a smile, a tilt of the head, or why not a simple greeting, (hi, hello, etc)? It appears, today that these things are very expensive. I say that because, when I come face to face with someone, it’s as if, I need to fork over some serious cash to get even a slight smile, never mind a greeting.
When I was growing up in the Deep South, (Georgia to be exact), it was a definite must, that you speak to everybody you meet, or even you just see. Maybe I should rephrase that, it was a given. From an early age, we knew what was expected of us. For instance, when we would pass someone on our way to the store or to visit someone, we’d say, “hey, mister, or miss whoever.” Now on the way back from that location, the expectation was to repeat the greeting. No one found that at all strange, it was just a way of life. If for any reason, we didn’t speak, the “offended” would simply say, “can’t you speak.” If you were young enough your parents would hear of it. In those days, we were raised by a “village,” or so it seemed, and we all felt so safe.
When I moved to my present state, things were quite different. I was in for a serious culture shock. One day while walking past two ladies, conversing across the fence with one another, I, with my great big toothy grin, said, a very pleasant “Hi.” One of them said a tentative “Hi,” the other one didn’t speak at all. As I was passing, I overheard them say, “who is that, I don’t know, I thought you knew her, I don’t know her.” That was the exchange that went on between them. That didn’t deter me, I kept that up for a long time, but had to curtail it somewhat, due to the lack of response. That was then, this is now, News flash, what I experienced way back then, I experience now, no matter where I go, across the country, or across the world. No place has escaped the new “I don’t know you,” attitude. I’ve learned not to assume that I will get a response when I try to speak to somebody, however, to a limited degree, I still try.
Try This
We seem to think that we have to know everybody we greet. Granted we have to be careful not to go to extremes in trying to make friends. However, I’m not really talking about making friends, just a smile, and or a greeting. What would be the harm in saying a friendly hello, or just a smile, or even a slight nod of the head to acknowledge someone’s presence. Who’s to say that you won’t make the day of someone that teetering on the brink of, whatever. Sometimes we walk around seemingly with the weight of the world on our shoulders, and just to be acknowledged, and made to feel like we matter, could be all that we need.
Why don’t we try this, everyday, attempt to make one person’s day. The way to do this is, get the attention of someone we meet, and say hello, smile, or just a nod to acknowledge their presence. You could be pleasantly surprised. Be careful though, suspicion abounds, so if your attempts are rebuffed, don’t press the issue, move on, there’s someone else out there that would appreciate it. Most of us feel that in the grand scheme of things, we’re nobody anyway, and that is true, but if just one person gave us the time of day, it could just make our day.
