thepowerofme

I have the privilege of working at a local university driving one of the campus shuttle buss-es.  This brings me into contact with hundreds of people each and every day.  Some are from other countries and for the most part I tend to really enjoy my job.  The interaction with the students, faculty and staff makes the job very enjoyable.  But the constant bombardment from our digital society is getting very old at times.  From time to time I am learning how this whole digital courtesy comes into play.  For those of you that listen to your Ipods and MP3 players it is common courtesy that when your are about to encounter other people to take one earphone out so that you can still communicate with those lucky individuals.  That being said this was not one of those days.

I was getting ready to pick up this young woman behind the fitness center to drop her off at her chosen destination.  As I opened the doors to the front to let her in I greeted her with a warm smile and a brief hello, to get the response of guess what, nothing.  The cold shoulder as she walked on by like my remark was nothing more than an annoying fly that invaded her precious presence.  I thought to myself she must of been working out very hard to have lost her manners along with those extra holiday pounds she must of been trying to shed.  I thought for a moment how rude and inconsiderate she had been and asked myself just what type of person can not even say hello when some one says it to them.

So after that experience I thought maybe it was just a woman thing.  Not quite sure how the mind of a woman operates even after being married for close to six years.  It is a complex process of ideas that as a man I will never understand or even get right ten percent of the time when trying to guess what that all means.  So I decided to take an informal poll with each and every passenger that got on the bus after that.  Sure enough when I said hello they responded with a nod, a reply, a smile, something.  Never once did one person after that not reply with some form of either a verbal or non verbal response.  Then it hit me, I wonder if she thought that my hello was intended to lead into something else.  A request for dinner, a phone number or some other type of dating norm that folks experience from time to time.  Then once again I had to ask myself SO WHAT.  If some one takes the time out of their busy lifestyles whether it be a man, woman, or child to say hello it demands a response.  For some one to think of a person as something more than a body or a title is something special in today’s society.  So the least that recipient can do is acknowledge the action with a courteous reaction.

So the next time you are walking down the street, working out are strolling through the super market and some one graces you with a brief hello you should return the favor.  If nothing more than remembering there are thousands of us bloggers out on the Internet these days and your snubbing reaction could most definitely land you as the focus of one of their rants and raves.

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