Wave

This is short thought from Robert Fulghum. He writes about the ordinary things. Some of which are everything:

September 21, 2010
Queen Anne Hill - Seattle, Washington
September 20, 2010

WAVE

A movement up and down or back and forth.
A disturbance that travels through time and space by transference of energy.
A dimension of daily life and the daily news.
Waves in water, light waves, sound waves, microwaves, seismic waves.
There are heat waves, tidal waves, the air waves and on and on . . .

And there’s a much smaller-but-visible wave that strikes me sometimes.
I don’t have a name for it. But you will recognize it if I tell you about it.

Just this morning I was driving down a two-way street that’s so narrowed by cars parked on both sides that cars cannot pass. In reality it’s a one-way-at-a-time street. And there’s no clarity as to who has the right of way.

If you and the driver of the car coming toward you are not alert you soon will find yourselves bumper to bumper. Then somebody has to back up or it’s a stalemate. And backing up gets weird because there’s always a car or two behind you driven by sheep that have blindly followed your lead.

I’ve been there - done my part to make it happen, too. Been there for the angry honking of horns, the clinching of fists, and the upraised finger in greeting. And, after the mess was unscrambled, gone away with my day made toxic by the insensitivity of the human race - which would include me.

Being familiar with my neighborhood streets, I keep an eye peeled a block or two ahead when driving in these narrowed passages. This morning the car ahead of me drove on through because the oncoming driver had been alert and thoughtfully pulled over into a wide spot and waited.

As the first car passed the waiting car, both drivers waved.
The gentle wave of common courtesy acknowledged.
Following the good example, I pulled over into a wide spot and waited, while the oncoming car took its turn coming through the bottleneck.
As the driver passed me, she waved and I waved back.
This is a brief wave - a small sign of the kindness of strangers who take some responsibility for the world outside their own car.
More than a wave, it feels like a gesture of mutual blessing.

No big deal, you might say.
But I say it is.
Especially in a cultural climate when anger and rage are in fashion.

It’s a powerful wave - sufficient to shape the rest of one’s day - to remind one that the human race remains capable of small kindness - even me.
It cost me about 20 seconds travel time but paid me a dividend in the form of good feelings about my fellow travelers and myself. And I arrived home in high good spirits, ready and eager to tell you about this.
Why?
This is the way I want the world to be. And sometimes it is.
I’ve never been sorry for being kind and generous - even in small ways - and I’ve always regretted when I wasn’t.
For at least a few moments this morning, no regrets . . .

-Robert Fulghum http://robertfulghum.com/index.php/fulghumweb/