Smile and wave – you might make someone’s day.

Josh — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 02:05:46 +0000

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.

System 13 » kindness

Smile and wave – you might make someone’s day.