Say Hello

The other night I was coming home from work. It was around 8pm. So I get on the bus and walk to the back. I stood in front of a woman and her child. There was a lady who was standing next to me. She was a bit scary looking but I didn't cry. So this lady said hello to the little girl, who would be...say 3 years old. The little girl hides her face behind her mother's arm. The mother then says to the little girl in spanish..."Say hello." The little, still hiding half way behind her mother's arm says no. So the mother tells the little girl that when someone says hello to you, you should be polite and say hello back. But the little girl refused to say hello to the...umm...Stranger. So she kept telling her daughter to say hello. And again the girl was scared and said no. She then tells her daughter that is she doesnt say hello, she will be punished. The little girl starts to get sad and doesn't want to be punished. But the mother insists that she says hello.

I'm standing there thinking....why would I want my daughter to be friendly with a stranger. I mean, if she doesn't want to say hello, then forget it. You can teach the little girl to be polite, but it's not always safe to have your kids being nice to every person that waves and says hello to her.

She continues to tell her daughter that she is punished for not saying hello. But if she says hello to this woman, she will not punish her. So the little girl gives in. She slowly raises her hand, looking at her mother and then looking at the scary lady. Her hand moves with a stiff and unsure motion and as she is doing this, she gets better at the waving. She then starts to speak up and say hello. Seconds later, she is waving happily and showing her mother that she said hello to the lady. "Am I still punished?" The little girl asks. Her mother said no and smiled.

Sometimes it's nice to say hello to a stranger. Sure. But I didn't approve of her mother punishing her if she didn't say hello to this strange woman. That's just me, I guess.