world go around

I walked home from work today. My route takes me through downtown on 5th Street, a gravel parking lot, up a hill on a sidewalk right next to cars honking and driving too fast. Half way up I have to cross this busy street. I desperately hit the "I want to cross the street and not get killed. Please flash the little white walking person" button. I finally cross it gets better, I move away from the hussle and bustle of the cars and walk up a well worn dirt path...once I get to the top I am on Selby Avenue. Along the way I see on the sidewalk, "All the colors of the rainbow make the world go around" written in chalk (isn't that fantastic?!), today I stopped at a little card shop two blocks from my apartment (I bought two homemade caramels that I ate before I got home). People were out in abundance because the weather is almost perfect, you can feel the rain in the air but it is not yet here.

While walking home I smiled and said hello to the people that I passed. All it takes is a smile to connect with someone. Why don't more people smile? Why are we taught to never talk to "strangers"? Why isn't everyone just turning to one another and exclaiming how utterly incredibile it is to see them, asking them who they are and what is their story?!!?!?!?

Something else occured to me on my walk home today. As I was waiting to cross the busy street I hear someone honking like crazy. I recognize the driver as a regular customer, apparently the car in front of theirs was not moving fast enough. Their impatience was ridiculous. Everyday I "serve" impatient people...I feel frustrated with them because sometimes they don't even say hello. I found myself even more disappointed and realizing that impatience is cruel, rude, insensative, but most of all selfish.

Maybe the actions of others (or more importantly our own) teach us who we want to be.