G'day, Hello,....Oh never mind.

Old timers talk about it, young people are oblivious to it. But hang on a minute, this isn’t just a ‘young person’ perceptive bash, this is an across the board social impact subject.

Just how hard is it these days for some people to say ‘Gday’? 

Well, increasingly it seems to be a common urbanised problem affecting all walks of life. What does a simple 'hello' take.  A few seconds maybe, one breath of air and limited muscle exploitation to open ones mouth, show some pearly whites and mutter one word.

By now you may see where I am going with this. No maybe, let me explore this a bit further then by putting a personal face to it.

Back in the day (yep here I go, old fart about to talk so shoosh now) when my parents would ship me off to my grandparents place for holidays, at a tender age of somewhere between 6 and 9 on the Newcastle to Kempsey express (Aka Northern NSW Tablelands train service) the ‘Gday how are you’ trait within me would kick in. In the 70’s Newcastle was indeed a big country town, in both wealth and community spirit but still big on country values. Those country values included being able to freely say hello to anyone you met on the street, and in my case on the train to whoever happened to be sitting next to me. Most of the time it would be someone else’s ‘granny’ who was just as happy to flash out pictures of her grandkids, and speak with genuine interest and love of them to a complete stranger like me. As young as I was, I showed respect and interest in their story before babbling on about whatever I was up to, where I was going and my family life. A simple G’day’ on the train and impending conversation would see the incredibly boring trip scream so fast I’d often forget the opposite of G’day, and later on realise that ‘goodbye’ didn’t eventuate when I arrived at Kempsey.

The need to say hello in most situations paid off wherever I was. It made me look approachable, honest and a good kid. Adults back then appreciated it immensely, yet it is something that seemed so simple so it was never a chore for me. I can appreciate some kids hesitation these days with ‘stranger danger’ etc, but ‘hello’ should mean just that, a simple acknowledgment.

As a young bloke, probably my biggest influence was my grandfather. He’d say hello to everyone. Saturday morning shopping in the NSW Country town of Kempsey took about twice as long as it did when back home in Newcastle with my parents, everyone wanted to chat to Pop. Was it through general respect, or did people feel obligated to chat to the poor old fella hobbling along with a walking stick and proud grandson in tow. 100% of the time to me and as I remember still to this day, it was a mutual respect between two people, whether they were well known to each other before the interaction or not, they left each others presence satisfied with a good old chat and a face to remember for next time. I’m not suggesting for a minute Pop would bail up someone and bore them to death, everyone wanted to get on back then and saying a quick hello was part of the deal.

Pops honesty and country values rubbed off. Still to this day wherever I am I feel almost obligated to say G’day to someone I don’t know, even to the dodgiest of looking people. Perhaps people who look dodgy don’t get enough interaction due to stereotyping in society, a simple “G’day how ya going mate” might fix a few of society’s problems, who knows.
I started this theory and thought process on why people say G’day about 10 years ago, and why snobberish behaviour has increased massively over the years. Deep down it’s probably that people just don’t give a shit, and that’s sad. 

My thoughts on this started back in the good old days before I became a father for the first time. Always being a big bloke, I would often walk around the streets after work, early mornings etc as a bit of exercise. This is when those ancient music machines named  ‘walkmans’ were still out. Not everyone had one like people have iPods these days, most people wouldn’t have anything but a good walking rhythm to keep them focussed on getting fit rather than getting deaf at the same time. Most people didn’t have a walkman, they just walked. There was no need to ignore anyone approaching another walker, if a verbal G’day was too hard even a nod acknowledging your presence would be suffice. I have to say though, walking my normal circuit that simple acknowledgement was bloody hard for most people. In particular, the ladies would look to the sky, ground or the back of their eyelids as I approached. I know I’m no painting, but I’m pretty sure I also didn’t look like I was going to bite anyone either. 

Bring on fatherhood, and how things changed. There had been a sudden transformation in walkway attitudes once a pram and bub were dragged along with me. Giving the Mrs a break I’d often take the bub for a bit of fresh air and outdoor adventure. IMMEDIATELY, ladies in particular who have ignored me several times up until now, wanted to say hello. How weird, even though being massively sleep deprived and looking shabby due to it, somehow I now looked humane enough to interact with. What I really wanted to say to them is totally unacceptable to share here online, but with Pops ways of respect and ‘forgive and forget’ engraved into me I enjoyed many a conversation with those who previously ‘snobbed’ me.

Did the local pathway snobs only stop to talk to me because they seen something more interesting and appealing to make them interact, or did they realise I was human after all? 
I guess I’ll never know.

From pathway snobs back in early parenthood to today. In the city, it’s same story for some people when out walking, shopping or whatever, that is unless you’re out in the country. I frequent country towns like Tamworth, Gunnedah and Narrabri and always look forward to getting over that Great Dividing Range. The Ranges seem to be the great divide alright, it is soooo much better hitting that New England district and leaving the Hunter Valley behind. Attitudes, perceptions and genuine respectful values alter immensely. If you don’t know what I’m on about, do yourself a favour and get out of suburbia and experience it sometime soon.

Walking around suburbia today it is increasingly getting sadder. No one wants to say ‘G’day’, eye contact is rare to say the least and the attitudes of some people is disgraceful. Be it the computer age, social media technology or just laziness, I’d like to fix it before the world ends up being a shittier place than what it is today.

Be it a kid, an old bloke and his Mrs, an authority figure or even a politician, I’ve said hello to some complete strangers and made good friends, and that’s what it’s all about, being friendly. It’s not hard. We can all do it, give it a go and change your own perspective of the world a little.

Respect needs to be earnt, you cannot buy it. Say G’day to the next person you meet on your early morning walk or shopping trip, and get that respect both you and the world needs back.