by Brittany Neigh

HELLO！ November 21st is World Hello Day！ World Hello Day has been celebrated annually[一年一次] on this date since 1973.

When I was a kid， I was very shy. I took part in a lot of activities that forced extroversion[外向]， like drama and orchestra[管弦乐队]， but communicating with strangers always put me a little on edge[紧张]. When I consider where I grew up， its really no surprise： Woodbridge， Virginia， was a great place， but it was so close to the fast-paced capital city that people often sped past each other without taking a moment to make eye contact， let alone say hello. I lived in that environment for so long that when I moved to the small college town of Harrisonburg to attend James Madison University， I was shocked that strangers in the mall would say hi for no other reason than that we were walking past each other. And it didnt stop there： strangers even held the door for each other！ At first I was a little freaked out[吓坏了]， but eventually[最后] I got used to it. This small town attitude was one of the things that made me most proud of Harrisonburg. When I left， I tried to carry its pleasant disposition[特性；倾向] with me.

To celebrate this day of greeting， my friend， Chris， and I made sure we said hello to at least ten people today. We both work in an office with handfuls of coworkers， which makes reaching that small goal pretty simple—something we both do on a daily basis.

But we also made sure to say hello to plenty of strangers today. For me， it was the people in the elevator， the customer service representative[代表] at one of our local stores， and the cashier[（商店等的）出纳员] in the restaurant.

I know it sounds silly since we didnt really have to go out of our way to say hello， but if you stand back and watch， its shocking how many people dont start a conversation with any type of greeting at all. Instead， they abruptly[唐突地] bark out[大声喊出] their question. Im glad that todays “unofficial” greetings helped me realize the importance of that simple goal， and that something as simple as a “hello” might make a difference not only in a persons day， but in shaping the peace of our world.

你好！11月21日是世界问候日！自从1973年以来，人们都会在这天庆祝这个一年一度的节日。

当我还是个孩子的时候，我很害羞。我参加了很多可以迫使我变得外向的活动，比如戏剧和管弦乐，但和陌生人沟通始终让我有点紧张。想想我成长的地方，就会发现一点也不奇怪：（美国）弗吉尼亚州的伍德布里奇是一个很不错的地方，但它太靠近那个快节奏的州首府了，所以人们往往擦身而过，根本没有时间进行眼神交流，更不用说打招呼了。我在那种环境下生活得太久了，以至于当我搬到哈里森堡这个大学小镇入读詹姆斯麦迪逊大学的时候很是意外——购物中心里的陌生人会向我们打招呼，不为什么，仅仅是因为路过而已。还不止这些呢：不认识的人甚至会帮人扶着门！一开始，我有点被吓到了，但最终还是适应过来。这个小镇的态度是哈里森堡最让我引以为豪的其中一点。离开的时候，我希望把这种友好的特质也一并带走。

为了庆祝这个问候的日子，我的朋友克里斯和我决定在今天至少向十个人打招呼。我们俩在一个有一堆同事的办公室工作，所以要达到这个小小的目标很简单——我们每天都可以做到。但我们今天也决定一定要向很多不认识的人打招呼。对我来说，他们是电梯里的人、当地某家商店里的客服代表，以及餐厅里的收银员。

我知道这听起来挺傻的，因为我们不需要做什么出格的行为去打招呼，但如果你退一步看看，看到有多少人是完全不会先说声问候（任何方式）再开始一段对话，而是唐突地大声提问，这是多么让人吃惊。我很高兴今天这些“非正式”的问候帮我意识到那个简单的目标的重要性，一些简单如说声“你好”的事情也许不仅仅会改变一个人的一天，还可能会影响这个世界的和平呢。