Saying Hello

Today, I had a rather horrific experience.

Last night, I didn't sleep at all. It was 9:00 AM and I was still wide awake. My mind really wanted the sleep but my body refused to cooperate, so I just kept tossing and turning into I found a few minutes of sleep. Well, until that happened I decided to do some chores around the house, including picking up the mail. This is when an event where I was completely uncharacteristic happened. As I kept walking to the post office, a man drives by and says hello. I have no idea who he is, and actually didn't care. When I return home from the post office, that same man walked by me again, this time wondering if I remembered him. He was short of telling me his life story, but even if I realized who he was in the end, I still didn't care, so I stayed quiet and gave a "I don't give a crap who you are" look that he eventually took notice of and just walked away.

This isn't me. Even if I don't remember the person saying hi I always make sure I wave back and smile, regardless if I feel good or bad. I am a firm believer that sometimes even the simplest comment like a "hello" can make a whole difference in a person's life. Plus, it is corteous to always respond in a friendly manner. This might be one of the first times I actually disregarded this and acted apathetically towards a person.

It could be many things. It could have been the fatigue making me act differently, as in I didn't have the energy to be social. It could have been that I didn't remember the guy enough to be openly friendly. Or could be that I was so down in the dumps that I couldn't even muster a simple hello due to how miserable I was feeling.

Now, all I do is replay that scene in my head, and wonder, "Did he think I was a jerk for ignoring him? Did I ruin his day so early in the morning? Why didn't I just smile and wave hello? Was I that out of it?". He isn't a friend of mine or even a close relative so why worry about it? Well, my belief that you should always be the better person, regardless of who you are, how you feel and who you face in life, and in this moment in time, I wasn't the better person.

This is a lesson well learned, and something I might end up regretting.

-Pedro