Hard to Imagine People's Reaction Easily 

Oct 22 , 2022
By Kidist Yidnekachew

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I wonder why people act strange for more superficial reasons.

Why do some people out of thin air start ignoring others? One minute they stand next to us but the next, they act weird. It is strange knowing we have not done anything to affect people. I am not talking about friends or someone we know well; instead, I am talking about random acquaintances with no reasons to say and think wrong about them.

Such related things happened to me on two occasions. It has been a few years since the first experience happened, but what happened recently brought back memories.

A while ago, this lady lived with us in the same neighbourhood. Technically, I was not exactly close with her except for random greetings whenever running into each other in the hallway. If the good memory serves me correct, never talked wrong about her but complimented her in a good way, even to a shared neighbour who used to be close to her. I barely discussed her with him, nor did he.

The lady seems sweet and friendly every time. But all that has changed for no reason without knowing about it.

One day, a lady passed through the hall, and I was standing on the other side to greet her. However, after giving me an intense look, she walked to the exit. Baffled by what had just happened, I started walking back and forth in the hallway. Maybe she did not see anyone around or was lost in her thoughts. In the afternoon, sitting inside a close relative's shop with a friend, the lady came and greeted both of them warmly without even glancing in the direction where I stood.

The shop owner was confused and asked if there was anything to say about what had just happened. The response was nothing but a surprised glance back.

Until this day, nothing happened extraordinarily. But sometimes, this urge forces my ego to ask why behaving like that. Whatever it was, let it fly in the air.

A few days ago, a similar incident happened with a young girl I had met recently for work-related reasons.

It was her to break the ice and start talking. But when the conversation was over, we kept silent most of the time while travelling to our destination. The car came to its stop, and everybody was ready to get off. But she got off quickly and walked away without even saying goodbye. Confused enough, I realized that was not the first trip to share. Perhaps, it is my nature to piss off people who barely know about me.

Surprisingly, we saw each other again after a week or so. I was on the phone and made eye contact with her to pass my greetings, but she turned her gaze away without even recognizing me.

Strangers may not be worthy of our effort or energy, but at the same time, it is disturbing that they could switch on one time and off the next.

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PUBLISHED ON Oct 22,2022 [ VOL 23 , NO 1173]

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