Don't be weird, it bothers me.

There's this thing that when you're walking on the hill, people, who you do not know, have never met, and most probably (and sometimes, hopefully) will never meet again, say, "Hello."

It's generally accepted that the polite thing to do is say, "Hello." back. And then all is well with the world.

I'm not a great fan of this practice, but, it's convention, and on the whole I'll go along with it though rarely, if ever, instigate it.

Today, exceptionally, something somewhat different occurred. We'd kind of come to a halt, the four of us. I was looking for a photo, L & L were looking for a spot for selfies, C was having a breather and looking after the hound. The hound was doggily occupied. L & L called me over to assist with the photos, not selfies as it turned out. As I headed towards them, on the windy ridge. I had to pass another walker, one of a couple who had been steadfastly approaching us on converging route. "Hello," the person says, hood up, baffled against the wind. "Hello," I reply, fairly unenthusiastically, I was on a mission. And then weirdly, the person stops, turns around and stridently voices, "Hello!". Tempting as it was, restraint became the better of me, and "Fuck off," did not pass my lips, although it may have been subvocalised. Surely, that was weird?

"Baa!" These humans, what are they like?

Repeating the story I was admonished for my thoughts but, really? 

Yesterday, on another walk someone when passing said, "Alright?" In a tone that seemed to expect an answer. That also felt fairly odd. I will assign all this to post-lockdown-and-Covid-complications-syndrome, but hey, people, I don't know you, and you would have no expectations if we were in the middle of Dundee, for example, indeed you would be considered weird for saying. So, WTF.

Later today, we were in a nearby village, full of soup and tea and on the last leg. An elderly person was approaching and as she past she made comment about the weather. I'd pretty much expected her to say something, and we replied, sympathysing with the change and the cold. All of that was just expected, friendly, normal, and perfectly comfortable. The differences are subtle, subtle but important.

I guess, I'm left wondering about the state of mind of those folk, but I won't dwell on that.

Ash.

Bridge over the Swale.