Day 22 - Say hello to strangers, especially to the elderly.

One of the reasons I have always loved going out on the boat is that once you’re out on the ocean every one waves at each other. It's like on land your one person and on the ocean the niceness inside of you just comes out. I always wondered why that never happens on land. Is it really that hard to say hello to each other?

I usually try to be as friendly as possible on a normal basis so I didn't find today's task difficult at all. I love smiling at strangers because most times than not they give you the biggest smile back. I work doing property management for a large outdoor commercial property that has retail stores and restaurants and I usually have to walk the property to talk to tenants. As I walked the property I said hello to a couple of customers and the nice thing is they always smiled and said hello back. After the day was over I changed into running clothes and went to run the bleachers at the park, around that time the track is usually filled with people. I didn't want to be that creeper girl that says hello to people while they are running so I waited to finish my laps and as I was finishing my bottle of water I said hello to whom ever walked by. Once again, I found that mostly everyone said hello back with a smile on their faces and some even told me to have a good evening. It feels good to interact with strangers and to say hello. Unfortunately I didn't see many elderly today so I couldn't really say hello to them. I will definitely continue saying hello to strangers and as soon as an elderly person crosses my path I will update this entry.
One of the strangest parts about big cities is how little we talk to one another despite being stacked on top of each other like cans of soup. You would think that such close quarters would give you a desire to meet everyone around you, but instead it draws people further apart. I am not saying the key to happiness lies in talking to everyone you meet but sometimes it's nice to interact with people. One of the most important commandments is love thy neighbor, how many people actually know their neighbors? You would be amazed at how many people have lived somewhere for years and until this day have no idea who their next door neighbors are.

I challenge you to go out there tomorrow and say hello to 3 strangers, I am positive that at the end of the day you will want to say hi to many more. Share your experiences; let me know how it went, good or bad. :)