你“hello”了嗎?

卷首語

Friendliness is my nature. This is such a deep instinct[本能] that I’m always the one saying hello when I pass people in public. In Vienna, when you say hello to strangers, sometimes they cross the street. In Istanbul, sometimes they follow you off the train. In Hastings, Nebraska, they say hello back. In each new place, it may be hit or miss[隨意的].

Sitting in a big Chevy truck on the open roads[鄉村道路] in Kansas, I delight in[因……高興] the expansive[廣闊的] skies and the tidy rows for planting. And I uncover[揭示] many a mute[無聲的] hello. I am on the receiving end of acknowledgement[感謝], greetings, and well wishes from oncoming traffic. The “farm finger”—either the pointer finger or sometimes the first two fingers—raised in a quick salute[致意] to other trucks. The farmers offer a gesture of hello, sometimes accompanied[伴隨] with an automatic[自動的] and barely[幾乎不能] visible[看得見的] nod of the head. I hear the nod is for someone you know, and“the point” is for general good will. I was told these are automatic.

Because here, well, we HELLO.

友善是我的天性。這種本能如此之深,以至於在公眾場合和別人擦肩而過時,我常常是主動打招呼的那個人。在維也納,當你和陌生人打招呼時,他們有時候會走到路的對麵;在伊斯坦布爾,他們有時候會跟著你下火車;在(美國)內布拉斯加州的黑斯廷斯,他們會說“你好”來回應你。在每一個新地方,反應可以是各式各樣的。

我坐在一輛龐大的雪佛蘭卡車上,在堪薩斯州的鄉村道路上馳騁。廣闊的天空和一排排整齊的植物讓我歡喜。我還發現了很多無聲的問候。我從迎麵而來的車上接收到了感謝、問候和祝福。人們會舉起“農場手指”(食指,有時候也可以是前兩根手指),迅速地向其他卡車致意。農夫們會做出打招呼的手勢,有時還會無意識地點一下頭,幾乎看不見的那種。我聽說點頭這個動作是對認識的人做的,而手指那個動作則表達一種普遍的善意,它們都是自發的。

因為在這裏,我們就是會打招呼。