Have you ever had someone avoid you??? They see you and go the other way or immediately make it appear like they are busy or like they didn’t see you. I’m totally used to this happening to me! I’ve seen people (usually teenagers!) in the mall or at Wegmans or somewhere out and about and have watched as they literally try to hide behind something, anything, so I wouldn’t see them! Sorry, that rack with 2 articles of clothing isn’t doing its job very well! But this happens probably more than we would like to admit. If you’re honest, you have probably done it too. I know I have. Maybe I’m in a hurry and just don’t want to deal with taking the time to stop and talk. Or maybe its someone I’m not a huge fan of for whatever reason. Ashamedly, I admit I have done my fair share of avoidance. The best is when you know they didn’t see you though because then you are let off scotch free!
Now to my defense, more often than not, I’m the sort of person who calls a person out that I know. I go running up to people I see, even if they are trying to hide! That actually almost makes it better! And if they didn’t see me, but I saw them??? That’s ok! I’ll make sure they see (and hear!) me.
Unfortunately the world tends to take the avoidance route more often than not. That’s why a simple little thing that happened to me at church this past week caught my attention. A lady in my church said hi to me. Yes, she said hi to me! Big deal right? Well, no, it actually was a big deal; at least to me it was. See, I had already passed by this person, but didn’t see them. I proceeded to walk down the stairs toward my office and would have never known they were at the top of the stairs, behind me. Yet this person still gave me a shout out. “Good morning Laurie!” was the chirpy greeting I heard behind me. I turned around and said good morning in return. However, as I made my way to my office, I walked with a little skip in my step. “What a friendly lady she is,” I thought to myself. She didn’t have to say hi to me. She could have let me go right on walking without acknowledging me, and I would have never known. But she didn’t do that. She said hi, even though I would have never even known she had seen me. It made my day!
Yesterday I went to Toys-R-Us and got in line behind a former athlete of mine. As I did, I made eye contact with a girl a few registers down, who had graduated from high school with me. In my excitement to talk to this athlete, I gave no acknowledgement to the fact that I had just made eye contact with my high school friend. After talking with the athlete, I looked and didn’t see the high school friend. I paid for my purchase and walked out. Just as I was reaching my truck I hear, “Hey Crowley; long time no see!” Yepp, it was the high school friend. Again, I would have never even known she was behind me. She could have just gone on her merry way as I got into my truck and went on my own merry way. Most people would have done that; but she didn’t! I drove away smiling at the mini reunion and the simple pleasure that she acknowledged me.
This morning at the gym, 2 different people went out of their way to say goodbye to me and wish me a happy Thanksgiving as I finished up my cardio workout on an elliptical. Again, it made me smile that they took the time to seek me out and pause a moment to share some love and kind words from one gym friend to another.
I like friendly people. They really make my day, and they truly stand out in the midst of any given day. Do you stand out?