brownies
I have set a new goal! On my 2.5 miles to work I came across a revelation: no one says “Good Morning!” anymore (at least people in the bay area do not…they might in Granby, Colorado). I know it is old school to do so, but it really gets the day going in a positive day when people make the effort to acknowledge one another. As I walked in my own little Assi world/coma, I was awakened by a man leaving his house who greeted me with a friendly “Good Morning!” I was totally caught off guard and almost forgot how to respond. Right then I decided that for the rest of my walk I was going to see how many other morning greetings I might get. Unfortunately, my experiment proved disappointing. I tried to get eye contact and flashed a simple smile to all the people I passed (to passively initiate a friendly interaction), but I only got two out of the 98729873 passersby to respond (one being the guy who started the whole thing, and the other being a homeless man who loves to repeatedly tell Cooper that he can turn left at the red light on the one way street). Everyone else had glazed over eyes, were plugged into their ipods, or were chatting away on their cell phones. At least I won the award of getting to start my day with two really good “Good Mornings!”
A similar situation always happens on Bart…and is most apparent at the airport before getting on Bart. I know airports can be awkward and I am the first to pretend to be reading a book on a plane when I have to sit next to someone I don’t know, but when “outsiders” enter the bay area bubble, I notice that many have a hard time adjusting to the “no talking” rule. When coming back from Colorado, I saw a woman who was trying to figure out the Bart machines. I noticed that she was having issues, but no one was breaking out of their quiet comas to help her. So, I did. Of course she was super appreciative and I think relieved to have someone guide her through the Bart process, but for some reason having a friendly person to talk to for a second rather than sealing my lips felt so good! Even when a crazy woman was cursing up a storm in our Bart car, everyone stayed quiet and wouldn’t allow themselves to get eye contact with one another. After the silly scenario ended, a few of us commented on the events and again, I felt weird breaking out of the “no talking zone,” but I also felt liberated and gosh darn fantastic having the brief moments of connection and communication with strangers. It is sad that our little city forces people to shut themselves off so much. I suppose I should do what I can myself to flip the switch and wake people up a little (but in a not so annoying or intruding way…tactful of course).