Smile for Me

My hubby thinks I'm weird--okay, there's no need to go into detail here, but he married me, therefore he is stuck with me!

Back on topic: When I go on my 4.25 mile daily walk, I tend to greet the people on the walking path: walkers, joggers, and bikers. Usually I give a small wave--raising my hand-- and a 'good morning' said with a smile. I don't want to interrupt their workout, but I want there to be an awareness and an acknowledgment that I saw them, therefore they saw me.

My theory is that if my cold, dead body is found, they will think, "Hey, that's that weird lady who wears a red sweatshirt and insists upon intruding into my la-la world by being cheerful."

Then again, there are theories that people who are targeted are those who won't make eye contact, or are so into their tunes they don't know what the heck is going on around them.

I'm aware. I see them.

In other words--I could identify them in a line-up. :-) **bwahahaha**

Anyway, I've been doing this for a couple of years now. Sometimes people glare at me. Sometimes they smile. Sometimes they lift their hand in greeting, but they catch themselves wondering why their hand was up. And, of course, many times I'm ignored . . . especially by women when they travel in pairs.

Go figure. Like I'm a threat to their womanhood. *sheesh*

Every now and again, I hit gold.

One was an older gentleman by the name of Ron. I usually see him walking M-F on the trail, and mainly in passing as we are headed different directions. Sometimes, if he's ahead of me, I'll play catch-up to push myself harder to see if I can make up the distance to chat with him.

Another gentleman was Kenyon who I passed as he jogged. He's a slow jogger and I'm a quick walker. I haven't seen him in awhile, but his workout hours might not be the same as mine.

Then there is the lady jogger who stopped to alert me to a bobcat in the area . . . she didn't alert the next two walkers as I followed her along the path, just me. I don't know her name, but she recognized me as I greeted her numerous times while we worked out.

And just this last Saturday, I met Jacob.

Jacob is a serious biker--he wears the spandex bike clothes and he's riding seven days a week. Usually all I have time for is "Morni--" and a hand wave before he zooms away. As I said, I don't want to interrupt anyone's workout, but I do want to greet them.

But this Saturday was different when Jacob stopped his bike to introduce himself.

I'm still smiling about it.

I'm not doing much, just greeting the people I meet along the way. And I like to think that my greeting makes them smile just a little and approach their day a little differently.

Over the years, I've noticed that nastiness is contagious. But then again, so is cheerfulness. Why not spread a little joy along the way?

Later, Peeps!