The Nice Thing About Strangers
Creative Non-Fiction Short Stories. :) Travel, Oldsters, Love, and Compassion.
Hey, Hi, Nice to See You Again
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows which giant cookie has your name on it. The old man in a baseball cap shuffles in and waits patiently behind the folks in for lunch. “Hi hi, set aside a Peanut Butter,” a woman calls out, and the cap smiles and nods. Another girl behind the counter, hustling to assemble Thai Chicken Wraps and Veggie Paninis has spotted the baseball cap. She breaks through the lines, “Hi Hi Hi! How about that sunshine?” He beams.
After his usual chit chat with the usual employees, he takes his cookie and his coffee and shuffles a well-worn path to his usual seat. A teenager in need of a haircut is sitting there, engrossed in his cell phone, but Hi Hi Hi just waits. The teen peers up, and slides over, “Hey hey,” and the man in the cap smiles and takes his place. He knows everyone, and remains a mystery. Perhaps none of his coffee shop employee pals can remember his name, but they all remember to hi and hey when they see his grateful face.
–Vermont
The Nice Thing About Strangers 
The colour of the tractor wheels are so vivid, I almost missed the tin man! Another wonderful observation of life around you. I think we have all witnessed a ‘hi hi hi’ person. Thanks for sharing.
Yes I had to go back and look for the tin man, I missed him till I saw Christine mentioned him
Hey – I mean Paige – this is a really keen insight into the nature of things around us. I have encountered several of these hey, hey, hi people in my life – embarrassingly, it has been because I can’t remember the person’s name. It just goes to show you though that the formality of knowing someone’s name has nothing to do with the ability to have a meaningful conversation with them or being able to make a real difference in their day 🙂
I like that little scenario a lot, Paige ! – maybe because I see myself if not all that many years’ time …
No way, I think we all like to have those routines and be recognized. I’d great you, M-R! 🙂 With cookies, if you’re so inclined. 🙂
Paige
I shall hold you to that !!! 😀
but, unfortunately, soon robots will replace us