WHY?

I am that guy.

I'm the guy that always asks "why?"  Sometimes I'm given the answer, but most of the time I'm left still asking why. 
I've been in that spot for awhile now.  The spot without the answer that is.  And I believe I KNOW the answer......but the answer isn't FACT.  The answer is everyone's opinion!  The answer is everyone's BELIEF.  NOT FACT.  Including me.  At least, I haven't found out facts.......yet. 

The "why" I'm asking about, is human behavior.  Specifically, why can't we all just live in an altruistic movement?  Why can't we just value other people, who are JUST LIKE US, the same way we value ourselves?  Why are we so damn selfish?  I firmly believe (see? Opinion) that we are all the same.  No one, and I mean NO ONE, is better than me!  In the same breath, NO ONE is less than me either.  Sure, I may be better at disc golf than Scott down the road, but does that make me a better person than him?  Yet, Scott makes a shit-ton more money than me.  Does that make him better than me?  NO.  Not in my opinion.  We all have strengths and weaknesses, but do those strengths and weaknesses make us better than or less than others?  Why can't we look at the strengths as teaching tools for others?  And why can't we look at the weaknesses as learning tools from others? 

Why do some (the majority from my experience) people value money more than human life?  Human emotion?  Human BEINGS?  I've encountered more people that want money so badly, they don't care who they hurt, who they put out, who they manipulate, as long as they get their money.  These are the same people, I've noticed, that if you don't have something they want, you don't exist.  Which leads me to my next why.

Why can't we say "hi", or "good morning", or "how's it going", or even just wave at people we don't know?  A simple smile, and a "hello" as you walk past.  Why can't we hold the door for someone, and not expect a "thank you"?  And, for that matter, why the hell can't we say "thank you" when someone holds the door? 

This all started for me when I was walking through the parking lot of a Sheetz a few weeks back.  It was a BEAUTIFUL Sunday morning, around 6am, and I was soaking in the 'everything' of that morning.  As I walked toward the door, I passed 3 people.  I said "hi", to one.  His response?  -grunt- Next person, "good morning!".  Response...NOTHING.  Third person...(hesitantly), "mornin!"  His response, "yep".  And they all kept walking.  No eye contact.  Nothing.  So I decided to do a test in life for awhile.  I decided to NOT acknowledge people I didn't know to see what is what.  I DID make it a point to make eye contact though.  Here's what I learned.  No one wants to be bothered.  No one said anything.  No hello.  No hi.  Not even a smile.  Just kept on life like no one else existed but them.  Until........I started riding my motorcycle more to work on the back roads.  Everyone.....and I mean EVERYONE I would pass by while riding would make it a point to stop what they were doing outside, and wave.  They don't know me.  I don't know them.  They would wave.  And usually smile while waving.  I can't begin to tell you how a simple wave made me feel.  Especially if I had a shit day at work, and just wanted to go to bed and forget about the day.  That wave allowed me to forget about 15 minutes earlier.  That wave allowed me to get out of my head for a moment.  That wave was NICE!  And FRIENDLY! 

I've had this discussion with others, and the only thing in common with all of them, is they usually say something along the lines of, "well Tom, you don't know what's going on in their lives.  They may be living something terrible and aren't in the mood to be friendly."  I agree.  Which leads me to my next experience. 
One morning, I found out a good friend of mine was murdered.  Brutally.  I'm not even going to BEGIN to tell you how that made me feel.  Let's just say, not good.  I went to a very bad place internally.  I left work early, and on my way home, I stopped off at that same Sheetz for a cup of coffee.  Extremely sad, extremely depressed, and not wanting to have contact with ANYONE, I walked up to the counter with my coffee and money.  As I got to the counter, I looked at the older gentlemen working, smiled at him (forced, mind you) and said, "good morning".  He looked at me, paused a moment, said good morning back, told me how much the coffee was and I paid him.  As he was giving me the change, I looked at him and said, "I hope you have a GREAT day!".  He smiled at me and said, "you too........no matter what!"  I stopped in my tracks.  Looked back at him, and a wave of comfort covered me.  Smiling (sincerely), I repeated that back to him...."No Matter What".  Now, the next person in line didn't say good morning, or hello, or anything to him.  He didn't say anything to them except for how much they owed him.  So I KNOW he didn't say that to everyone.  Would he have said it to me if I didn't give the nice greeting?  I firmly believe he wouldn't have.  So DOES it matter what you're going through?  Yes.  And if you ARE in a bad spot in life, and aren't in the mood to be friendly, then, I believe, THAT'S when you SHOULD be!  You NEVER know how another human being (who's JUST LIKE YOU) can affect your life. 

A simple wave.
A simple hello.
A simple smile.

You NEVER know how it can affect their life.  And if you're still selfish, your life. 

I'm going to make a conscious effort from this day forth to wave, or say hello, or even just smile at people.  No matter the mood I'm in.  I'm going to work very hard on having no expectations of a response either!  Because I'll never know. 

I hope you have a GREAT day..........

NO MATTER WHAT!