The street I live on has had an odd little tradition for at least as long as I’ve lived here in Virginia (at I think it’s odd - I don’t actually know how many other neighborhoods do this). Whenever we drive by someone else walking their dog or getting the mail, we always wave at one another. Now, I know this fosters a sense of community, and encourages friendly feelings between neighbors; but despite this “community” that supposedly exists between the 30-40 houses on my street, I’m positive I’ve never actually spoken to a neighbor in at least one, maybe two years. Call me antisocial - I call myself busy.

But even though I’ve never spoken to 98% of the people I wave at, it’s still a nice gesture that, aside from removing a bit of the awkwardness associated with passing by complete strangers, just makes for a happier and less stressful world.

So why can’t we be more like that in real life?

Today marked the “one week left” rehearsal for CHS’s One Act, “How to Eat Like a Child.” And boy is everyone edgy. It’s the first year we’ve done the One Act with a student director, and so things are working a bit differently than what most of the actors are used to. Result: not everyone is as prepared as they should be, making everyone even more stressed. Stress leads to anger, anger leads to students turning against each other.

Today, I counted no less than a dozen instances of the high school favorite, “f–k,” used by one member of the cast against another. Really, guys? Is that really necessary? Whatever happened to cast members working together to overcome any difficulties another actor has? Instead, we’re just getting mad at each other, destroying any community I used to feel with the cast, and creating an environment conducive neither to improvement nor fun (which, correct me if I’m wrong, is what high school theatre should be about).

If people just put a little bit of effort into rebuilding that community - something as simple as a hand wave - we could start having fun again, learning again. Come on people - just wave.

[...] should all come to CHS’s One Act musical, “How to Eat Like a Child” on Wednesday. Interaction problems aside, it’s a fun play. And you get to see me play a dog - a role at which I’ve become [...]