A friendly gesture goes a long way....

Wren

Wren

Well-known Member
Location
Europe
In a crowded cafe yesterday, an elderly man with obvious mental issues and accompanied by a Carer was leaving, passing our table he waved and called “Goodbye” we automatically smiled and waved at him then watched as he repeated his goodbye at each table he passed, not one other person responded, smiled, said goodbye or even acknowledged him.... is it just me ? I thought that was so mean .....
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I would do the same thing that you did.

If a person speaks to me I always respond to them, it's just common courtesy. I do get some odd looks when a little kid speaks to me and I tell them that my mother doesn't let me talk to strangers, LOL!!!

I'm not sure why people don't respond, I certainly hope it's not because they are mean.
 
Wren said:
In a crowded cafe yesterday, an elderly man with obvious mental issues and accompanied by a Carer was leaving, passing our table he waved and called “Goodbye” we automatically smiled and waved at him then watched as he repeated his goodbye at each table he passed, not one other person responded, smiled, said goodbye or even acknowledged him.... is it just me ? I thought that was so mean .....
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I agree. Sad. So many people with these issues are invisible. What does it say about our priorities that we can't step outside our comfort zones long enough to smile and wave? Who, in instances such as these, are the people with the true
handicaps?
 

Oooh I've met a few of those people Wren, and it's clear they are poorly, so I always acknowledge them if they speak to me . Just the other day I took a walk down by our local lakes, and a man probably about the same age as me ( early 60's)... was walking about 20 yards behind me with his younger carer.... I hadn't taken notice of them until he called out several times ''hello Mum''... and I realised he was talking to me... I didn't know him from Adam, but he'd got it into his head I was his mum, so I waved and smiled, and he waved back...and that was enough to make him happy and on he went on his walk with his carer..
 
I totally agree with all of you. I worked for public health years back and when I visited some of these people in their homes many would tell me about some lady or man who was nice to them the day before. Some do remember and it makes their day. It costs nothing to be kind.
 
I would have automatically smiled and waved too Wren, there are some nice friendly folks in the world, but we can always use more. The other people were probably too self involved with conversation or something. As others here have said, it probably meant a lot to the man who was saying goodbye.

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Even though I'm on the shy side, I always say "hi" to everyone I see when I'm out. Sometimes I even compliment someone about something.

I talk to everybody, even children....maybe I'm not as shy as I think. :)
 
Being in a chair myself I always respond to such greetings which normally come from small persons delighted to see somebody on their own level.

To be fair to my fellow citizens, two in very five will smile and/or say "Hello" when they pass.
 
Wren said:
In a crowded cafe yesterday, an elderly man with obvious mental issues and accompanied by a Carer was leaving, passing our table he waved and called “Goodbye” we automatically smiled and waved at him then watched as he repeated his goodbye at each table he passed, not one other person responded, smiled, said goodbye or even acknowledged him.... is it just me ? I thought that was so mean .....
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No, it's not just you. I would have done the same thing. In fact, if for some reason I couldn't have, it would have bothered me. I speak to anyone that speaks to me and to people that just smile at me without speaking. These people that didn't speak to him were being mean.
 
I usually say hello to most people but sometimes wait for them to say something to me, too. Today I looked at a man walking down the street and he just looked away. So, I don't always say hello but much of the time I do. Or else I smile at people.
 
I always speak to people when out and about. A couple of my favorite people at 2 of the grocery stores lost everything to Harvey and I always ask how their situation is going if I see them when I shop. It doesn't take much to be kind. One of the stores I shop at hires some challenged folks who work very hard and I admire them for their work. Sometimes a child will ask their mother about my disability and she will shush the child and I will answer their question according to their ability to understand.
 
I always say hello,good morning to people when I'm out on my walks,most of them respond,others on their smartphones just run or walk by without saying anything. Sue
 
That's sad to say the least. A few years back, I had lunch with my uncle and cousin, who I only get to visit a few times a year due to the distance between us. (Both have severe medical issues.) We were sitting in Ruby Tuesdays and joking and having fun. When the waitress came to our table to deliver the check, she said that the people behind us heard us enjoying ourselves so much that they decided to pay for our meal as a "random act of kindness." I was so over-come by that, that the next morning at breakfast in a different restaurant, I did the same thing for a family of four having their breakfast.
 

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