At the risk of repeating myself, I want to revisit my favourite topic.
I touched on some of this last week but I need some help getting my head around people who either can’t say “hello” at 5.30 in the morning or say it sometimes but not other times.
I find it quite baffling.
Sure, the three-abreast walkers and cyclists pretty much send a clear message: “Hey, it’s all about me.”
The runners are another interesting group. Some are running an Olympic marathon and have no time to say hello, while others are trying to beat Usain Bolt’s 100-metre record and fear saying “hello” may cost them the record.
Then there are the walkers who beautifully time looking at their phone just as you cross paths. I like to consider that an accident rather than a strategy.
The easiest to understand are people who simply don’t like me (a rather large group).
That’s fine.
“But how can you tell?” you may ask.
Well, the grimace or shake of the head as they pass is a pretty fair indicator and at least alerts me that I don’t need to waste a greeting on them.
I am quite comfortable with people who don’t like me. I don’t need to know why. What they think of me is no business of mine.
The confusing one is the “hello” one day, then ignore me for the next few days.
I find it thoroughly baffling as, again, I don’t want to waste a “hello” if I get ignored (I usually chuck one in anyway).
The thing is, though: how hard is it to say “hello”?
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I am not trying to entice them into some cult. I am not trying to sell them something and I have no intention of following them home for breakfast. Just “gidday” or “hello” – that’s all I ask.
In a world that seems to be moving faster every year, in a region that has always been a mix of rural and seaside (and up until that past few decades, like a big fragmented country town), we must be careful not to lose our laid-back lifestyle that has appealed and appalled our migrants from the south.
If I want to be ignored at 5.30am, I’ll go for a walk in Sydney or Melbourne.
So, maybe it’s time to just keep saying “hello” until they respond … or leave.
Now there’s a plan.
Ashley Robinson is a columnist with Sunshine Coast News and My Weekly Preview. His views are his own.
