By Bill King
I grew up in a small rural town in the Deep South. Almost everybody there knew everybody there, so when we met each other, we either spoke to them or waved if they were too far away. If we passed without doing either, the other person most likely would ask, “What’s wrong with ole Bill? He didn’t even speak, or he didn’t wave.” What would happen if we passed someone we didn’t know? That didn’t matter; we still spoke to them or waved. It didn’t matter if we were passing in a vehicle or sitting on our front porch drinking sweet iced tea; we at least waved to those who passed by. As a kid, I enjoyed this tradition so much that I used to stand by the side of the road and wave at every vehicle that went by. We didn’t have many means of entertainment, and this was cheap entertainment! Usually, if the vehicle was a semi-truck, equipped with an air horn, I made a fist and pumped my arm up and down. In case you grew up in a different era, a different place, or under a rock, I was not threatening the truck driver but asking him to blow his air horn. My friend, who lived across the street, often joined me in these exercises. Sometimes we took turns and kept score. Whoever got the most trucks to blow won a free punch on the arm.
I fear that in our rapidly growing and fast-paced society, we have lost some of the art of friendliness, even in the South. Our parents warned us not to speak to strangers, so we don’t. We don’t even wave to them. A wave is not speaking, at least not orally. It is a non-verbal way of saying hello. I used to visit places outside the South and notice that strangers were not aware of the 11th commandment…thou shalt be friendly to everyone. In more recent years, I’ve spoken to strangers on the sidewalk and had them look at me like I had horns and had told them their mother was ugly and their daddy was a lazy bum.
I think there may still be hope for us down here, especially in the great state of Alabama. Jean and I have begun walking in our neighborhood. I used to not understand walking when you weren’t going anywhere, but now Jean and I are both retired from full-time jobs, so we don’t have to go anywhere, so we walk. Not to mention we need the exercise. You know what else we do? As we walk, we wave. We meet vehicles on the street, and we wave. I am proud to announce that most people wave back, and so far, most have used all five fingers. Okay, part of the reason we wave is so they won’t run over us, but it’s also fun to be friendly. They are building an entirely new section of houses in the adjacent neighborhood where we walk, so there are lots of big trucks in and out of there as we walk. I guess they don’t have air horns, or these modern-day drivers don’t know the honk signal. Jean just hides her eyes when I start that!
The wise King Solomon once said, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly.” Be friendly today with a word or a wave. A wave can say “hello,” or it may also say “goodbye.” Since I’ve reached my word count for this week, I’m waving goodbye and hope you have a great day!
