Friday, November 21 is World Hello Day. “Anyone can participate… simply by greeting ten people. This demonstrates the importance of personal communication for preserving peace.”
This, historically, would be an action that was right up my alley. Unfortunately, I find it increasingly difficult to say hello to people.
Most of the folks I see each day are on the bus. Invariably, they have devices stuck in their ears and/or in front of their faces. Even people I know in passing don’t know I’m speaking with them.
The change is fairly recent. I’ve been riding the bus to Corporate (frickin’) Woods for nine years, and this simply was not a problem then. I was involved with any number of conversations with people who were not particularly known to me, though you start developing “bus relationships.”
These days, the bus is full, yet I feel alone. I use my own devices, not just because I really need to use them, but almost in self-defense.
Because people have these new devices, it’s become impossible even to ask them what time it is. Not so long ago, the universal symbol for requesting the time is to point to your wrist, where your watch might have been. But because the watch is passe, the symbolism it represented is likewise diminished.
Still, I’ll make the effort to say hello, if only because the need is greater than ever.
Some time ago, I put together a CD of Hello songs. LISTEN to a few:
Judy Collins – Hello, Hooray
Todd Rundgren – Hello It’s Me
Sopwith Camel – Hello, Hello
Oasis – Hello
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Only peripherally related sidebar: one can’t use an LED bulb to visually represent an idea. It has to be an incandescent bulb, which is largely banned in the United States.