If you’ve taken public transit recently, you’ve probably done this yourself. You plug yourself into your favourite electronic gadget, and shut out the world.
Nothing unusual in that, but that is exactly what the problem is, according to a couple of Vancouver bus drivers — Chris O’Bray and Brian Revel are on a mission to change people’s habits.
In the past few years, they’ve seen a huge increase in the number of people disconnected from the world while connected to their iPhones.
Now, these bus drivers want to get people to connect, one little ‘hello’ at a time.
“I mean, going back to the 80s, the walkman days, I’m sure it started back then, as soon as people got portable stereos and closed themselves off,” says Chris O’Bray, “But it’s come along away because who doesn’t have a smartphone or an mp3 player of some sort these days?”
It was a YouTube video called “Then-n-now” that got Revel and O’Bray brainstorming.
The split-screen shows two parallel stories, illustrating missed opportunities.
So the colleagues came up with a simple solution, “Say ‘hi’ on the bus day!”
“It couldn’t be simpler. That’s all there is to it — ‘Hello, how are you?’ Once you get past the initial hurdle of saying something, it just takes off,” says O’Bray.
There’s no announcement over the PA and no high pressure sales tactics. The date of each official “Say ‘hi’ on the bus day!” is posted on Facebook, and the rest is up to the passengers.
After just a couple of months, the response has been overwhelming.
“It just feels a lot better with somebody who is willing to welcome you on the bus as opposed to someone with a negative attitude,” one passenger told Global News.
Another woman says it makes her feel like she is part of the community.
“It is very important now that I am a little older and balder, that you do say ‘hi,’ and you are recognized.”
With growing interest from other bus drivers, the simple ‘hello’ could be the start of a social revolution, not a quiet one mind you, but isn’t that the whole point?
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