"Hello. How Are You?"
Brunch, Bega-Kwa-Bega style, last Tuesday
"hello. how are you?"
spending time with Alfred and Enoch in St. Paul last Monday, those were words that I heard quite often. not surprising, since it isn't often that folks from the Great African Rift Valley are seen out and about on a chilly midwestern day. however, those words didn't come from those who brand themselves as "Minnesota Nice." Rather, it was Pastor Alfred who was the non-stop greeting machine.
it was surprising to see where he chose to drop his greetings. unaccustomed to the norms and unspoken behaviors that govern life, he was saying "Hello" to people who i normally pass on by. visiting a church in St. Paul, two pastors, church staff, and i walked blindly past a copy-machine repairman in a rush to visit with our guests. strolling into the office, Alfred paused and said "hello. how are you?" to the guy. the guy seemed kind of surprised to be greeted. Alfred did this elsewhere . . . saying "hello. how are you?" to secretaries and assistants at an architecture firm and many servers at a vietnamese restaurant. apparently he was all about greetings in the skyways leading to the timberwolves game as well.
hanging with someone from elsewhere helped me to see St. Paul in a new light. it is pretty easy to extend the simple courtesy of saying "hello. how are you?" to strangers . . . why don't we do it more? how much does familiarity blind us? i'm trying to remember in TZ if Alfred was all about the greetings there as well? or were there norms and conventions that he followed there? how have i behaved in foreign places? i feel like i'm more likely to greet everyone, to see everyone. surrounded in the strangeness of the other, am i (are we) more open to all?
four simple words. lots of questions.
spending time with Alfred and Enoch in St. Paul last Monday, those were words that I heard quite often. not surprising, since it isn't often that folks from the Great African Rift Valley are seen out and about on a chilly midwestern day. however, those words didn't come from those who brand themselves as "Minnesota Nice." Rather, it was Pastor Alfred who was the non-stop greeting machine.
it was surprising to see where he chose to drop his greetings. unaccustomed to the norms and unspoken behaviors that govern life, he was saying "Hello" to people who i normally pass on by. visiting a church in St. Paul, two pastors, church staff, and i walked blindly past a copy-machine repairman in a rush to visit with our guests. strolling into the office, Alfred paused and said "hello. how are you?" to the guy. the guy seemed kind of surprised to be greeted. Alfred did this elsewhere . . . saying "hello. how are you?" to secretaries and assistants at an architecture firm and many servers at a vietnamese restaurant. apparently he was all about greetings in the skyways leading to the timberwolves game as well.
hanging with someone from elsewhere helped me to see St. Paul in a new light. it is pretty easy to extend the simple courtesy of saying "hello. how are you?" to strangers . . . why don't we do it more? how much does familiarity blind us? i'm trying to remember in TZ if Alfred was all about the greetings there as well? or were there norms and conventions that he followed there? how have i behaved in foreign places? i feel like i'm more likely to greet everyone, to see everyone. surrounded in the strangeness of the other, am i (are we) more open to all?
four simple words. lots of questions.
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