On Friday I was riding my Backwards Brain Bicycle in the hall during lunch. As I passed a group of special needs students one of the young men said to his group (not exact quotes but best I can remember), “HEY, there is that guy that rides that bike.” Then he said to me, “A few weeks ago I was in a really bad mood and was really angry at a lot of things. Then I saw you riding that bike and it made me really happy.”
I was very much at a loss of words. I said that I was glad that it made him happy and continued to ride down the hall. That conversation keeps rolling around in my brain. I woke up this morning and thought about all the unexpected results of the many things we do as a person and especially as a teacher. We sometimes never know who we have contact with and influence in a positive or negative way.
When I was younger my Dad always told me that we should greet everyone with a smile, and wave at them when we pass them as we drive. He said that we might be the reason that person has a very good day or a bad day, just based on that single interaction.
I have heard from many of my former students and it is always interesting what they remember or say about our personal interaction (besides the mathematics). Most things they tell me are things that I thought very little about at the time.
Greet the people you see today with a smile and a compliment. You may never know how it changed their day.
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