How Hard is it to Say Hello?

This morning as we left our house my kids saw our neighbor in his front yard.  As I turned to lock our front door, I heard the girls frantically shreiking “Hi!  Hi!  Hi!” at him.  A second later when I turned back around, they were both looking in his direction and waving frantically.  They were so excited to see him (although technically we’ve only spoken to him once, a few months ago), because they’re kids and for them it’s a bright new day to make friends and be excited.

His reaction: Nothing.  Oh, he heard them, make no mistake.  He looked up at them.  But then – nothing.  He went back to fiddling with his sprinklers.  Not a nod.  Not a wave.  Not a smile.  Absolutely nothing.

“Why doesn’t he say hi to us Mommy?”, Greenleigh asked.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because he’s a jerk”, was my gut response, but instead I said, “Oh honey, he’s just very busy.  Let’s get in the car, okay?”.

Luckily, in our neighborhood, this is is a rare occurrence.  Everyone is so nice and they always say hi to the girls in the morning.  But the fact is, that this type of thing happens all the time.  At malls, at the grocery store, at restaurants.   You name it, my girls say hi and get cold stares in response.  Or better yet, they’re ignored completely.  People will actually turn around to avoid their smiles and waves.

Listen, I get it – little kids can freak people out sometimes.  It’s as if they feel that just waving hi to a child will land them on their county’s list of pedophiles.  They’re afraid to be labeled as a stranger – and admittedly, as a parent I’ve struggled with the “stranger danger” scenario (and written about it here on my blog, too).  There are others who, despite being parents themselves, don’t like children.  And that’s okay, I get it.  But still, this behavior is rude.  Period.

In the past, I’ve tried to understand why people do this.  I’ve made excuses for them, like how our neighbor this morning was “very busy”.  But this morning as I pulled out of our driveway, all I could do was wonder just how hard it is to be polite.  Wouldn’t this world be a better place if we smiled back at someone when they smiled at us?  Would it make the neighborhood nicer if we all waved at our neighbors when we saw them in the morning, even if that neighbor is only 3 feet tall?  Would it kill you to reply “hi” to someone who just said hello to you?  Seriously, how hard is it to smile or wave to a little kid who is excited to see you?

Bottom line – It isn’t difficult at all.

So as of today, I’m done with the excuses.  For my neighbor.  For the people at the mall.  For people at restaurants.  I’m done.  If 2 and 3 year old little girls are looking at you from across the street, smiling and waving and yelling “hi” in the happiest of tones, pull yourself together and do the right thing.  Smile back.  Wave back.  And if you can possibly muster a “hi”, by all means – do it.  But if you don’t, know that next time my girls ask why you didn’t even so much as acknowledge their existence, I’m just going to tell them the truth – You’re a jerk.  And then I’ll probably have to explain what a jerk is and beg them not to repeat the word at school, but whatever…