The Importance of "Hi."

It's been nearly a year since I started working at Lowe's, and I can hardly believe that. Really?! A year?! Seems like I was just driving down to the S. Charlotte store to take my drug test last week. Orientation? Yesterday. Anyway... not my point. But I'm getting there.

When I started at Lowe's, I said hello to everyone I passed. Part of it is because I wanted to make a good first impression, especially since I didn't know where these new faces fit into the whole rank-and-file hierarchy. Sure, I'm a relatively shy and introverted person, but that shouldn't be mistaken for snobby behavior or aloofness. Didn't want to burn any bridges before they'd even been built. The responses I received were as varied as the people who delivered them: some stopped and introduced themselves (recognizing that I was a new face), some returned a bright hello, some flashed a slight smile, and others - these were the curious ones to me - ignored my hellos altogether.

One person in particular seemed to be oblivious to the fact that I was even there. So disturbing was the trend of never receiving a hello from him that I tried harder to elicit one. No dice. I began to wonder if something was wrong with me. Had I somehow slighted him without knowing it? Was this payback? Was I not important enough to be spoken to? I really started to worry. Then we were introduced to each other through a mutual acquantaince. Now, we chat quite often, and have become fairly close colleagues. I still don't know why I never received a response in those early days at Lowe's, but the psychological effects of my unrequited hellos startled me.

I suppose I tell you that story to say this: doing nothing can have just as much - if not more - of an effect on someone than even the smallest act. Sometimes, it's not enough to stay out of the way. Sometimes, we're called to action... even if it's just to say hello. Sometimes, the simplest personal gesture can mean so much in an age when transactions take place across the vacuous expanses of cyberspace and a face or a voice are the last things we expect to see or hear. Sometimes, when someone says "hello", all they really need is for you to say "hi" in return.