Black, Alcoholic, Hi man! How often do you say HI?

This is Forrest Gump, not me.

I was at the bus stop today waiting for my bus to work.

As I sat there waiting for the bus, an african american gentleman in his 40s with alcohol on his breath came by and gave me a jovial partially toothless smile and long drawn “Hiiiii…”

I said “hey whats up man”

he said “nothing much I just got out of the hospital, I drank too much last night. Im an alcoholic.. and now im going back to my boarding home”

I said “wow, youre an alcoholic? whats your favorite drink?”

then he said.. “malt liquor. i love all malt liquors.. u know 40s”

I said “how about whiskey? or some other hard alcohols?”

then he said.. “yeah i had some jack daniels before.. my father liked courvoisier..”

then he mumbled some words.. and continued.. “oh yeah, bacardi and strawberry.. that was a lady’s drink back in my disco days, i used to get them ladies strawberry daquiries.”

I said “yeah or a cosmo… cosmopolitan”

He said “yeah.. I go to AA often.. and SMOKES, I like smokes. haha.. im the dealer man in the boarding house. I got a few girlfriends in my boarding house, I give them smokes HAHA and they give me massages.. ya know?.. the government give me $780 a month..”

I said “Whaat? I want the government to give me $780 a month. How’d you get that?”

He said “I’m bi-polar and my father molested me (as he points to his head) so it got me messed up inside when I was younger or something.. I tried working at a fluorscent light company but I kept breaking the bulbs… I think im schizofrenic. Im taking some pills.”

(I started looking for the bus as he kept talking)

We continued on for a little bit. The bus arrives and we both get on. I let him go on first, but he takes a while to find change so I pay and grab a seat.

He sits in front and I start to take a nap. Before I can really close my eyes for long I hear a long jovial.. “Hiiiiiiii”

At the next stop more people started getting on the bus. As each new person got on the bus he would say HI to them very loudly and jovially.

Here’s the part I was surprised about.. out of 15 people not a single person responded to him. Only 1 lady mumbled hi back to him (and this lady proceeded to sing a childrens song on the bus and looked for applause at the end.) Granted, the “hi man” wasnt a Leonardo DiCaprio, how could all these people (mix of workers, students, mothers, elderly) ignore someone who was totally being friendly and saying hi to you? Is this because we grow up being taught “dont talk to strangers?”

So it made me wonder, how many people say Hi to those around them?

How often do you engage in conversation with someone you don’t know?

I love meeting people and I think it helps you grow as a person.

If you dont normally talk to random people, try it! Say hi to the next person that you make eye contact with. You might meet someone really interesting or at least brighten someones day.