Observations: Two-lane Roads and Elevators
Have you ever driven on a rural, two-lane highway in Utah? While on a camping trip, I recently did and found myself graced by the presence of rural friendliness.
If you’re on a winding, country highway in non-Wasatch Front Utah, you may likely experience the, “Hey, another human is actually out here?!”wave. This jaunt through the desert afforded me a driver headed the opposite direction, almost every 5 minutes or so, who would wave at me. I’m certainly not used to that happening on State Street, I-15, or even Main Street, Anytown, Utah.
During the aforementioned camping trip, I could couple experiencing that wave with spending time in a large camping group that was very close, willing to share food and supplies, and generally quite friendly.
This friendliness was in stark contrast to an experience I just had in the big city.
Having parked in a large garage, full of cars, I hopped onto an elevator in the morning with three other people.
… not one of us said a word to any of the others. We didn’t even look at each other.
Usually, I consider it polite to not interject myself into others’ lives, but how much added value could there be if we just opted for friendliness and speaking to one another like we’re all in this life together? There’s plenty to talk about (I mean, I’m over here rambling, right?).
Certainly, it can be argued, that people in larger cities get so used to seeing others that the certainty that someone will interpose themselves into your day is unavoidable. You don’t want to expend extra energy talking to strangers, because living in, or just visiting, a city means you will have to interact with strangers in one way or another.
This made me wonder if we don’t actually go entire days without seeing a friendly gesture or having anything friendly said to us. Perhaps we never say or do anything friendly because… we have friends and family for that, right?
I think life can be peppered with improvement if we stop thinking about avoiding any contact with the people around us and think of things we can do to positively contribute to others.
Would it have been so terrible of me to say, “Have a great day!” to each elevator passenger who exited before me?
The point: sometimes I think I’m polite by being silent, but to strangers it may actually make me seem mean or snobbish. I’m a positive person, and I could certainly add value to others’ days by sharing a friendly word or gesture.
We definitely don’t need to be friendly all the time, but I think we could at least learn something from the rural highway wave and remember that we’re in this short life together. That kind of mindset puts us in the mode of thinking about a bigger human picture. That feels like a positive thing to me.
So, if you see someone waving from the opposite side of the elevator, don’t worry. It’s probably just me trying a new thing.