Yesterday, Tiges and I decided to try a little experiment.
Every day, we go for a walk together to the Tram Place and back. Tiger loves feeling the wind on her little face and taking a stickybeak at life and all its wonder. Flowers are fascinating to Tiger. Trees are marvellous and magical. A loud bicycle bell is the funniest thing Of All Time.
For Cackle Mummy, it's a daily lesson in taking notice of the small things; the things that might seem mundane and unimportant; the things you pass by without even noticing, when you're in a hurry to get someplace. Cackle Mummy loves these walks for this very reason.
But yesterday, Tiger and I realised something. In noticing the flowers and birds and ladybugs, we were neglecting to notice some things - or someones that we passed every day.
The road we walk along is a busy one and bustling with people. Tiger and I have been so lost in our own little world of Us that we haven't really paid them much attention.
So yesterday, inspired by a blog post from Poppy S, we decided to try out a little experiment. We decided to smile or say "hello" to every person we passed on the Very Long Road.
We were quite excited about our New Little Plan, and set out with smiles on our faces.
And you might be wondering where the FFS (For Fish Fingers' Sake) comes in all of this.
It comes here:
Out of all the people we smiled at, or said "hello" to on the Very Long Road - and there were perhaps twenty or thirty in all - only one said "hello" back.
And no, it was not the old lady in the cardigan and pearls. It was not the respectable-looking businessman. It was not the fellow mother with a baby Tiger's age in a pram.
It was a young fellow, maybe sixteen or seventeen, in baggy pants and a gangster-brand cap, perched upon a tiny bicycle and chugging on a can of Red Bull. Cackle Mummy was, in fact, a bit afraid of saying "hello" to this boy, as he seemed a little bit scary, with the tattoo on his bicep, on display beneath the arm-hole of a ratty "wife-beater".
But, in the interests of the experiment, we did indeed say "hello" and, in return, we received a beaming smile and a cheery "G'day. Good day for a walk, eh?"
And Cackle Mummy and Tiger were chuffed. Finally, someone said "hello". And nicely, too.
To the rest of those people - the ones who failed to even acknowledge us?
FFS to you!
But we didn't let it get to us too badly, Tiges and I. We didn't slink home, dejected and defeated.
Instead, we went and sat in a sunbeam.
And it was lovely.
5 comments:
Promise me you'll never stop saying hello to people! :) I love it when people say hello back, and it makes me happy that other people do it too. xo
Nope! We'll do it again today! :o)
my girls and i do it all the time :) they used to think it was strange but now we make a game to see who says hello back and its always the ones who you least expect
It makes me sad that society is becoming like this. I love it when strangers take the time to have a conversation with my boys, it really is such a simple thing that makes my day.
Hope you get a few more hellos next time :)
I would love it if when I walked down the street a young woman with her baby said hello. I was coming down the library stairs yesterday, arms full of books holding the rail, arms buzzing from heat re: my MS and a young woman about age 19 came up on the side of the stairs I was coming down and bumped right into me so I'd move so she could have the rail. I held my tongue but just. I really don't get it. I am more than 40 years her senior. So hope you and tiger walk past our house and say Hi. We'll definitely say hello back.
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