This Stranger Waves Me Every Day. I Don't Know Her!
- 5 years ago
This is Janice. She's socially awkward and a little bit shy and insecure.
But that doesn't mean her story doesn't have a positive ending. It all began on a college campus, on a day in the Fall.
The start of Janice's freshman year was typically stressful for her. She’d never been able to make friends easily or start conversations with strangers. But she was determined to become a happier person, even if she knew it wouldn't be easy. Janice can still recall that particular day when she was having lunch alone at a bench (as she always did), planning her epic breakthrough into the heart of the student community. Her daydreaming was suddenly interrupted when a girl passing by said “hello” to her, and even smiled and waved!
You'd never think a simple “hello” could genuinely change the course of someone's life. But that one unexpected act of friendly behaviour was all that Janice needed. She waved back at the girl timidly. But she also thought to herself: “You can do it, Janice!” The next thing she knew, she had joined the students’ book discussion club.
In that nice little circle of book-lovers, Janice first started to feel comfortable in the presence of other people. She spent a lot of time hanging around with the club’s members, and became deeply involved in their intellectual discussions. Occasionally, she would still see that friendly girl around, and she still smiled and waved at Janice every time she passed by. And then one day she casually said, “Hey there, Janice!” and walked off.
Wow! She knew her name! Now Janice was starting to feel worried. It was that situation where you don’t know someone’s name, but they somehow know yours, and you start to really panic. Janice thought to herself: “Maybe I should just ask her what her name is,” but when she finally made her mind up to do so, it was already too late to ask.
Then, finally, Janice's dilemma was solved. She joined the honors programme and started taking classes for her thesis. And there she was in her group – that mystery girl, still waving happily at her as usual. “I won’t get away with it this time”, she thought. Then a miracle occurred – thanks to the roll call, Janice learned that her name was...Anne! Anne, Anne, thank God, finally she had found out! Janice didn’t need to feel that pervasive awkwardness anymore!
And then came a blow.
Someone said: “Oh, so you guys know each other? Where did you meet?”
Janice stared at Anne. Anne stared at Janice.
“I don't know! I don't know, okay? We've just been saying 'hello' to each other for years, I don’t remember why we started it, and it was too late to ask!” Janice could perfectly understand Anne’s reaction. It seems that even a friendly person can be an awkward one as well.
There's a happy ending to this story, however. Thanks to Anne’s little “hello”, which instilled Janice with the courage to join the book club, she had the chance to meet her future husband, Michael. They got married just two years after their graduation.
But that doesn't mean her story doesn't have a positive ending. It all began on a college campus, on a day in the Fall.
The start of Janice's freshman year was typically stressful for her. She’d never been able to make friends easily or start conversations with strangers. But she was determined to become a happier person, even if she knew it wouldn't be easy. Janice can still recall that particular day when she was having lunch alone at a bench (as she always did), planning her epic breakthrough into the heart of the student community. Her daydreaming was suddenly interrupted when a girl passing by said “hello” to her, and even smiled and waved!
You'd never think a simple “hello” could genuinely change the course of someone's life. But that one unexpected act of friendly behaviour was all that Janice needed. She waved back at the girl timidly. But she also thought to herself: “You can do it, Janice!” The next thing she knew, she had joined the students’ book discussion club.
In that nice little circle of book-lovers, Janice first started to feel comfortable in the presence of other people. She spent a lot of time hanging around with the club’s members, and became deeply involved in their intellectual discussions. Occasionally, she would still see that friendly girl around, and she still smiled and waved at Janice every time she passed by. And then one day she casually said, “Hey there, Janice!” and walked off.
Wow! She knew her name! Now Janice was starting to feel worried. It was that situation where you don’t know someone’s name, but they somehow know yours, and you start to really panic. Janice thought to herself: “Maybe I should just ask her what her name is,” but when she finally made her mind up to do so, it was already too late to ask.
Then, finally, Janice's dilemma was solved. She joined the honors programme and started taking classes for her thesis. And there she was in her group – that mystery girl, still waving happily at her as usual. “I won’t get away with it this time”, she thought. Then a miracle occurred – thanks to the roll call, Janice learned that her name was...Anne! Anne, Anne, thank God, finally she had found out! Janice didn’t need to feel that pervasive awkwardness anymore!
And then came a blow.
Someone said: “Oh, so you guys know each other? Where did you meet?”
Janice stared at Anne. Anne stared at Janice.
“I don't know! I don't know, okay? We've just been saying 'hello' to each other for years, I don’t remember why we started it, and it was too late to ask!” Janice could perfectly understand Anne’s reaction. It seems that even a friendly person can be an awkward one as well.
There's a happy ending to this story, however. Thanks to Anne’s little “hello”, which instilled Janice with the courage to join the book club, she had the chance to meet her future husband, Michael. They got married just two years after their graduation.