500 Miles of Gratitude

I have been walking for hundreds of miles in my preparation for the Camino de Santiago and I have come to the conclusion that if you walk with a backpack, people often think you must be homeless or just a little off. After all, this is Southern California where no one walks anywhere on purpose.

I have had the distinct feeling that when walking with a backpack most people are trying to figure out what's wrong with you, where you are going and why your mode of transportation is on foot.

Because they think you are so weird, they also don't want to make eye contact with you. Maybe people are just not as friendly as they use to be. I'm not sure but I have noticed a difference in several types of people and their approach to or the avoidance of making eye contact with me while I am walking on the trail which ends at the beach.

It's become a game for me as I try to guess if the person or people walking toward me will say something like good morning, a simple nod, a smile, and a comment about the weather or really go out of their way to pretend you are invisible.

The vast majority will do everything they can to be looking away from me when we pass each other. When I sense that this will be their choice I will purposely move closer to the center of the path to see how they react. It's harder to pretend you don't see me if I am getting closer. I will often say "good morning" or "hi" just after we pass to see if they will respond. In most cases they don't. There are exceptions.

Most little kids just stare and smile while they are trying to figure out what that big thing is on my back or where I got that big stick I'm walking with. Teenagers would not stop to help even if I was on fire. As a group they are the most disgusting and their lack of manners is off the charts. I doubt this would have been the case ten years ago but the general decline of decency seems to be increasing at a much greater pace in this group.

The young between 20 somethings and the mid-thirties are about a 50/50 chance of a comment or eye contact. The young women have a much larger percentage that will say hello, good morning or have a nice day especially if they are alone.

The groups with the highest percentage who will make a comment are the people over 50. Maybe it's just the way they were raised.

There is one very unique individual who I have seen on the trail a couple of times. When I get to within about ten feet of him he always says "nice day isn't it". My answer is always the same, "yes it is". It's a unique encounter because he walks the path and he is blind. He has his red tipped stick and tends to hug the trail as closely to the right as possible perhaps because he wants to be sure there is plenty of room to get around him.

It's amazing that the one person I see often who would love to be able to make eye contact can't. From all that I have read about The Camino the interaction with others will be very different. I will soon find out.