There’s a young girl in the corner of the room, wearing headphones with the music blaring. Every other glance she receives is filled with disgust or judgment. There’s an older gentleman who sits on a park bench every morning. No one pays him any attention. Some people spend their life oblivious to their surroundings or not sparing other people a second of their time, just like the people who passed by the young girl and older gentleman. No one stopped to ask the older gentleman how he was. No one knew that he only had a couple months left to live. No one knew that the only way the young girl survived through the day without harming herself was by listening to music. No one knew that a simple hello could have saved her from killing herself that night, when she believed no one would ever care for her or listen to her. No one bothered to say a simple, hello.
My father always taught me to be kind to anyone I meet. He taught me that a simple conversation never hurt anybody. For example, whenever I would go shopping with my dad, I would be embarrassed because he always made it a point to talk to the cashier, no matter how irritable the cashier was, no matter how much the cashier did not want to talk to anyone. My father always tried to have a conversation with them. When I was younger I did not understand why he would even bother to try and talk to people who were usually rude to him. Some people would look at him strangely, some cashiers would even huff and become annoyed with his animated chatter yet, one could see that by the end of the conversation, the cashier was more relaxed and even had a hint of a smile. Now, a simple conversation may not have always worked and the person you just talked to may be just as rude as when you first met him or her. However, my dad never cared; he believed that if he just tried to help someone’s day become better it was worth it. He didn’t know what they were going through; he just knew the power of a simple hello. I have witnessed firsthand how his kindness and simple conversations with strangers have changed lives.
Another example of this is when my mother took the opportunity to tell an older gentleman with a veteran hat, “Thank you for your service.” I saw his eyes water as he thanked her profusely, telling her that she did not understand how much that simple “thank you” meant to him. She did not have to stop and thank him, she did not even have to acknowledge him, but she did. In contrast, I almost lost an opportunity in Walmart. I was too busy putting my mother’s groceries in the basket to acknowledge the cashier. I was not feeling very well and I figured my mom could just talk to the cashier like my father does. However, the cashier got my attention and asked me specifically about my life and how I was. To this day, I do not know why she talked to me, but maybe I had to hear something she said. All I know is that, the simple conversation helped me in more ways than I can count.
