We Can Share the Sidewalk!

We Can Share the Sidewalk!

Share the Sidewalk!
📸 Credit - Canva 

I was reminded, today, of an experience I had a couple of years ago, that still resonates with me. I think it always will. Let me tell you the story.

One day, I was walking on a sidewalk in Small Town, USA, returning to my car from a shopping errand. A man in a motorized wheelchair came zipping down the sidewalk toward me. He watched me step off the sidewalk away from him. I watched his face fall when I did this.

He said to me, with a little bit of attitude, "We CAN share the sidewalk, you know..." I gave him my biggest smile and I said "We sure CAN, but I have just arrived at my car." He flustered, blushed a little bit, gave me HIS biggest smile, waved to me, and continued on his merry way.

This experience actually stopped me in my tracks and gave me something to think about that day. I was left to wonder...why was this gentleman so easily led to assume that I was shunning him? When did our society become so....exclusionary, for lack of another word? And how do we, collectively, go about fixing it? At the risk of this coming out reading like a "Be Kind" speech, it is.

My wish for whoever is reading this story is that you will allow it to stop you in your tracks for a minute, too. I hope that you will share the sidewalk and be friendly and polite to people you meet. We never know just how much courtesy and a friendly greeting can matter to someone.

Until next time,

Back Road Butterfly 🦋 

#weareallinthistogether #sharethesidewalk #bekind