We only have one vehicle. Because of this, I drive my wife to work in the morning, and then head back home. On my way back, I pass a house where an old man lives. I’m fairly confident he’s a veteran, based on the hats he wears, the stuff he has on his house, as well as another factor: he has one fake lower leg. As far as I can tell, he spends most of his time sitting in his wheelchair, on his porch or in his driveway, watching the traffic go by. He’s often out in the morning when I take my wife to work (8:45AM), and is also often out in the evening when I pick her up (5:30ish).
In seeing him so often, I’ve noticed something - he’s not just watching the traffic, he’s looking for some sign of communication from the drivers. When someone waves at him, even if it’s for just a second, he happily waves back with a big smile on his face.
I don’t know if he lives alone or not - I’ve certainly never seen anyone out there with him, but that’s not conclusive. But I do get the impression that he’s lonely.
So, I’ve been trying to make it a point to be on the correct side of the road when I pass his home, so I can smile and wave at him. I don’t know the guy, and I probably never will, but if I can make his day a little bit better by smiling and waving, so be it.
Ironically, I started doing this to (hopefully) bring a smile to his face, and yet now, I feel kind of sad when he’s not outside when I drive by. There’s a bend in the road right before I reach his home, and when I round that bend and don’t see him, I’m struck by a short sense of “Well, damnit…” I don’t even know the guy and I miss him when he’s not out there.
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July 7, 2007 at 5:19 am
Zeitlos
When I was a child, my parents took me to the Netherlands every weekend. On our way in a small village was a house with an old man sitting in the front garden watching the street. I clearly remeber seeing him there every friday and saturday. Sometimes he wasn’t there, but he was always back in the next week. One day he was gone forever, surely passed away. He was very old. My Dad started taking another route.
P.S.: I also greet the people wom I see daily on my way to work.
July 8, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Nils
You should actually stop there one time. Don’t get too friendly but just say hi. I might be very weird and perhaps you’ll never do it again, but it would be cool. Well, that’s what I imagine. I may just be useless as well.
July 10, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Josh
Zeitlos: Sad story. Considering what you’re dad did, perhaps I’m not so strange after all.
Nils: I’ve actually thought of stopping by, saying hello, etc.