#28 Have a safe trip, take care

Those words warmed my heart.

It was when I was heading to work as usual.
It was a late shift that day. The time was 10:10 AM.
When I opened the front door, the food delivery service person happened to be stacking my order in front of the entrance.
Our eyes met, and he said this to me.

Thank you as always.Have a safe trip.

Whew.

I felt a strange sensation that warmed my chest.
His smile also felt as pleasant as a spring breeze.

As I headed to the bicycle parking area, I made eye contact with the apartment manager who was cleaning.
Then, the manager looked me in the eye and said this.

Have a safe trip. Take care.

Oh, wow.

Once again, my chest felt gently warmed.
Even though they were simple words, combined with the manager's cheerful tone and smile, I felt like I had been given a real boost of energy.

And then, I rode my bicycle to work.

Good morning!

That day, I was able to work very energetically.

I was afraid of not having my greetings returned

As a member of society, greetings are the absolute basics.
However, I had developed a fear of greeting people somewhere along the way.

No, rather than being afraid of the greeting itself,
I was afraid of being ignored.

Good morning.
Thank you for your hard work.
I have greeted people countless times, both as a student and since becoming a working adult.
But among that vast number, there were some that were not returned.
That was all it took.
Just that, and yet I became afraid of greeting people.

It might have just been that my voice was too quiet and didn't reach the other person's ears.
I felt sad and embarrassed that there was no reaction to my greeting.
Because of those few one-sided greetings, I started to hesitate to initiate them myself.

However, thanks to the delivery person and the apartment manager, I have rethought what a greeting is.
So what if I'm ignored?
Because in return, there is a possibility that when my greeting does reach someone, it can brighten their day.

At the library, I greet those who come to visit.
To those entering, I say 'Hello'.
To those leaving, I say 'Thank you very much'.
Since it is a quiet space, I cannot speak loudly, but I try to greet them as energetically as possible, and with a cheerful smile just like those two.
Of course, there are many times when I am ignored.
But, when I get a greeting returned with a smile, it warms my heart.

Does saying 'take care' reduce accidents?

I heard from a colleague that telling someone to "take care" is effective in preventing accidents.
Even when I looked it up online, there is data suggesting that just saying "take care" reduces accidents by 7%. However, unfortunately, I couldn't find such data, so I don't know the truth of it.

But I want to believe it has that effect.
That's why at work, whenever a colleague leaves, I always say,
"Good work today. Take care on your way home."
They are precious colleagues who work with me.
I want them to get home safely and meet them again at work in good health.

Today is Monday.
I think some of you on noter are heading to work now.
Even if not for work, I think some people are going shopping or out to have fun.
So, I want to say this.

Have a safe trip! Take care!

——A complete aside.

A few years ago, when I was leaving after going out for drinks with a colleague at the time.
Perhaps because the drinking party was fun, the colleague was very drunk.
That person said this to me at the station ticket gate.

"Thanks for today! Take caaaare!"

And then, he disappeared into the darkness of the night.
I was very happy he said that, but
"no, you're the one who should take care on your way home"
I remembered thinking that strongly while writing this article.

It seemed he got home safely, but
after that, it seems he wasn't very safe.
(Later, we were able to meet at work in good health.)