“Do you know them?” my wife asked, as I waved to the driver of the car that zipped past our farm one day.
“No,” I replied, “But I always wave anyway.”
“Why?” she asked, incredulously.
At this point I revealed the real reason I always wave, smile and warmly great people I have never met. It all stems from some sage advice I once received from a wise mentor who was trying to teach me the basics of good salesmanship.
“If they drive by every day and you never look up or wave, they naturally will categorize you as cool and aloof,” he counseled. He went on to say, “You never know when you will need a friend, or they will need a hand. And when that happens, they will no longer be an anonymous blur, but a smiling friend, who might help you out some day.”
It seems that over the years fewer people take time to wave, or stop in and visit. As more and more newcomers move to the country, I no longer know the identity of every driver passing my farm. Now, SUV’s whiz by, barely slowing down for the stop sign at the bottom of the hill.
It’s too bad. You never know what might happen when you take the time to wave or even say hello. You might learn a fascinating tidbit, be the recipient of extra cucumber plants, or even make a best friend. Over 45 years ago a friendly nurse took the time to chat with my wife after our first child was born. Turns out this nurse had a new baby, too, and had just moved to within a mile of our farm. Our family and our children are still friends to this day.
Today’s fast paced farming has lost some of the threshing bee and barn-raising cooperative feeling of the past, but when tragedy strikes, the farm community always comes together to help those in need.
I saw a small example of this neighborliness a few years ago when, due to my carelessness, I watched helplessly as an empty forage wagon I was towing overturned near the road. Before I could gather my wits about me, my neighbors arrived with their backhoe, righted the wagon, assessed the damage, and sent me on my way. They even had the courtesy not to snicker.
We have all seen examples of tragedy or illness striking a farm family at planting or harvest time.
Sensing a real need, all the neighbors magically gather and in one long day, complete the planting or harvest. They all know if the plight were to befall them, they would benefit from the same largess. We are all appreciative of neighbors when it comes to blights, bumper crops, and broken machinery. Knowing that we can reach out to others in our lean years, or to offer extra in our good years is an unspoken bond between farmers everywhere. And more than once we have shared a needed ‘ just right’ belt or lug nut from our “we might need this someday” collection.
Whenever I have pulled a car out of a snow bank, or a pickup from a cornfield or extricated a car back through a barbed wire fence and I am asked, “How much do I owe you?”
Most of the time I smile and say, “Pass it on.” Unless of course, it’s in the middle of the night, then I insist on filling their trunk with zucchini just to give them enough ballast to better hold the road.
And, no matter if they acknowledge me or not, I still wave to them when they whiz by.
Joe Peck, a Saratoga County dairy farmer, storyteller and humorous speaker, is author of “A Tractor in the House & Other Smashing Farm Stories” and “A Cow in the Pool & Udder Humorous Farm Stories” which you may order at www.joepeckonline.com or call (518) 584-4129.
