Thereâs a park we frequent that has a 1.7 mile loop thatâs sandwiched between a lake and a zoo. One of the features of the walking path is that at a certain point it passes by this mini train track that belongs to the zoo so you families and kids on field trips passing by all throughout the day. Weâve been coming to this park for a few years and it hit me today that weâve been partaking in an almost scared tradition every time we see the train: waving.
Without any hesitation, as the train passes, the kids on the train are ALWAYS waving at whoever is passing by. Runners, walkers, people with strollers, big groups, solo people â all being waved at by these children on a train. And you know what those people do? They wave back. Every single time. Doesnât matter what theyâre doing, they wave in response to the waves theyâve been given. And the kids smile. And the people smile. And kindness is spread through this simple act of waving your hand through the air.
I waved the kids today. My daughter waved too, although I think she might have been swatting at a fly. But it was nice in that moment to see that itâs those small unspoken moments of kindness that connect us as humans. Objectively, the waving didnât move the âgood in the worldâ needle forward at all. But subjectively I know it made some 5-year-olds day to have me wave back at them.
