How one simple rule is changing my relationship with everybody.
In running every single street in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I haven’t set too many rules for myself. But there is one doozy that I set for myself: I have to make an attempt to greet every person I come across. Even if just a wave.
It started pretty easy. Most people in neighborhoods are easy enough to greet.
As I got into thicker city with more homeless people, it got trickier.
I feared giving a hearty “good morning!” to a homeless person waiting at a street crossing. Wouldn’t such a sunny disposition be insulting? I mean, they likely weren’t having a great morning.
What happened next surprised me.
Most downtrodden souls I greeted seemed confused — assuming I was greeting someone behind them. After reaffirming my greeting’s intended recipient was indeed them, they’d beam right back at me and echo my greeting right back — happy to be seen.
These responses invigorated my motivation for passing out greetings like a reverse trick-or-treater. I began actively scanning my surroundings for people to greet.
However, in more affluent neighborhoods, there was much more reluctance on the return. Many weren’t sure what I was up to and I felt much more like a stranger. Often, I would be intentionally ignored.
I didn’t let this get me down. As my wife says, “Hellos are free.”
Every hello seemed to straighten the spine of the recipient while lightening my own stride. Even a returned far-off wave made me feel like a child who had successfully gotten a train conductor or semi-truck driver to sound their horns.
For many, it is refreshing to have their existence acknowledged in real life.
I think that’s what all of this comes down to — simple acknowledgment. A wave, a passing “How ya doin’?”, or “Good mornin’!” is a protest against isolation and apathy. There is an understood feeling of “I see you and respect you as a person” built into it.
Not only is this acknowledgment free, but it pays out on both ends. Both parties are lifted up. With enough greetings, especially to strangers not expecting such, I believe this simple act of acknowledgment can completely change the world.
