Thursday 24 November 2011

Imagine “It” Two: Just say Hi! It Won’t Hurt!


          Ok, please don’t judge me based on this blog. I regret that this has to be shared because I know that there are other “dodgers” (yes I said it, dodgers) out there. I will start by explaining the concept however simple, explanation is necessary here. So a dodger is not the baseball team or a sailing term, it is a person who avoids, hides and, in some extreme cases, runs away from a possible conversation or form of interaction with another person. Generally the conversations that are dodged are those that we are not in the mood to have. Case one: someone you knew from high school is sitting in the same coffee shop as you, you have a lot to do and not very much time to spare. So, instead of saying hi, waving, smiling, or acknowledging their presence in any way, you decide to slowly and “subtlety” sink into your seat and “hide” behind the screen of your laptop. First of all, this is the worst dodge attempt I have ever seen and secondly just do yourself a favour, avoid thinking through the ways that you can hide from this person and Just SAY HI!
            Last week I dodged a high school acquaintance in a coffee shop by looking out the window the entire time they were ordering. Wait time: approximately ten minutes. I then preceded to text a friend and tell them who I just saw. The friend, who will remain nameless as a result of their absurd request, asked me to take a picture and send it to them as proof, as I claimed to be unsure of this person’s identity. Just to clarify and sound like a somewhat decent person, I will add that I did not take the picture, there was no confirmation necessary, it was her. The moral of this story is that it took about fifteen minutes, give or take, out of my “productive” work time to dodge this person when it could have taken me less than two minutes to JUST SAY HI!
            Today, I ran into another old high school acquaintance and I said hi! This gesture took a record time of thirty seconds. I learned a little bit about this old friend’s new life, was introduced to some of their colleagues and went on with my work. Well if you want to call writing this work. I have to say that the satisfaction or sweetness level of this interaction was not exactly what I had hoped for; I think I was a little over zealous and excited about finally saying hi. Results aside, I learned that it’s easier and a lot more pleasant to say hi.  I will work on the level my intensity in the future and hope for a slightly more responsive interaction. I’ll let you know how the next “Hi” goes.
            How do you deal with unexpected “run-ins”? Share your own stories of “dodging”, or just saying hi here. 

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