"Do you know me?"

This morning while on the bus to work, we stopped at a red light. There was a man walking on the sidewalk with a very woebegone expression. I watched him, trying to imagine a better day for him. He happened to look up while I was watching him, so I offered him a cheerful smile and a wave. He smiled back and waved, and when the bus drove away, he was still smiling.

The lady sitting next to me gave me a look and asked if I knew that man. I said no. She asked why I'd waved to him. I replied that I'd waved because he looked sad. She proceeded to lecture me on how 'you shouldn't do that' because 'it's not safe to do things like that at strangers'.

What a miserable and lonely place the world would be if strangers never made eye contact, or smiled, or waved, or introduced themselves.