As we say on Twitter, which is what X will always be for me, I was today years old when I learned that saying "Hello" to others was good for your health.
Seriously.
Makes perfect sense when you think about it. We don't usually bother. But the simple little greeting can be tossed off as empty and meaningless. Turns out, it isn't. When it prompts a similar response, even from a stranger, it sparks a minute rush of warmth and shared good feelings. For both parties.
Residents of smaller communities know this instinctively. So does the toddler in the precious video down below here.
It's from a few years ago. I went looking for it. So, the little boy is probably in school by now. But on regular walks in his neighborhood, he took to uttering friendly "Good morning!" and "Hello!" even when no one else was in sight. It just felt good and right to him. Not a bad role model for some adults.
His cheery, spontaneous greetings quickly became a regular meme in my household, tossed back and forth on some morning's first sightings.
Even bears, not known for an abundance of friendliness, apparently realize the positive effects of the greeting.
Good feelings seem like something in short supply in today's United States. So, it was encouraging and welcome for me to discover the other day a Google survey of some 5,000 Americans that confirmed the one-word greeting is actually an integral part of human well-being across a broad spectrum of activities.
That's the topic this week of our audio commentary. Comments welcome below, of course.
This week's Sunday column took a detailed look at the flurry of recent events spilling out from the Manhattan jury's verdict in Donald Trump's overcharged trial.
I clearly wasn't the only American bothered by those events and results, which were designed by Democrats and Biden allies to foul the image and schedule of the former president and current Republican challenger.
Joe Biden's allies had leaked word that he planned formal White House remarks on the verdict to underline what he thought would be a devastating blow to the former president's campaign to return to the White House.
As I described in the most recent audio commentary, the leak was actually a trial balloon to detect public reaction to such an obvious political gloat. Judging by the huge outpouring of financial donations to the Trump campaign and related organizations, many people saw Biden's speech idea for what it was: dumb.
To the financial tune in excess reportedly of $200 million.
So, Biden apparently was instructed by his unidentified handlers not to do it. A news conference was scheduled instead, allegedly on another topic. But, of course, they knew full well that a question on his verdict reaction would come up. It did. Biden smirked.
In case you missed it, I also posted recently another in the growing series of personal Memories. This moment has felt special to me ever since that brisk but sunny late spring morning when we encountered a large black rock warming on a Montana mountainside. And the clear trail uphill that told its hidden story.
Now, speaking of warm, take a few moments to enjoy this little boy's morning ritual. There is no one else there.
