Am I the first person talking to you today?
It’s a question I never asked myself when I was writing before. Of course, I was thinking of you (I hope to tell you something that will interest you at least, anyway); but I didn’t realize that I was sometimes the first to talk to you about it, in the morning…
It’s a charming woman who made me understand this, just before the holidays. I had just co-hosted the Year in Review of The Press and I was chatting with colleagues when she approached to explain to us that since her retirement, it is with the journalists, columnists and collaborators of the newspaper that she begins her days.
“You are my first hello. »
She said it smiling. Nothing sad. There was not a hint of loneliness in his testimony; many people suffer from it, but this was not his case. It’s just that without the quick-ordered croissant before entering the office or the gossip around the coffee machine, it’s just us to start the discussion, every morning.
“I didn’t know that my columns could have the effect of a greeting… Thank you so much for teaching me! It overwhelms me. »
I think she found me a bit intense. Maybe she even thought I was fooling her. But not at all ! Thanks to her, I realized how lucky we were. I mean: sometimes we’re at the table with you. You welcome us in the vulnerability of your dressing gown and the chaos of the early morning. It’s not nothing.
Since then, the question that lives in me is: how would you like to be greeted?
What kind of attention do you need these days?
I can sometimes guess what’s bothering you, thanks to your emails. In the fall, I didn’t have enough time to answer you properly, but I read everything I received. Often, you wanted to offer me an anecdote, a cultural suggestion or a reflection to fuel my thoughts. You are sharing when you come to me.
What hand would you like me to extend to you, in return?
This year, do you need sweet words? To be shaken? Plunged outside of you or, on the contrary, dragged into the heart of your anxieties, sorrows and doubts?
It seems that it’s getting harder and harder to talk to each other. Do you have a manual for me?
Would you rather have someone whisper a hello to you or sing that the day will be brand new?
It’s a huge privilege, interfering in someone’s morning, anyway.
My lover says I start mine smiling. Maybe that’s why I often introduce you to people or ideas that make me happy here. I hope the optimism is contagious.
It makes me think: have you seen C’mon C’mon ? It’s fantastic Mike Mills, a director who loves his female characters like few others, in my opinion. In this film, he stages a radio journalist (Joakim Phoenix) who seeks to relay the words of American youth. At the same time, the man deals with a delicate family situation (I cry about it in a very inelegant way), but basically, it’s above all a film about the beauty of the stories we tell. On the power of the word that manages to slip into homes and the strange dedication of all these people who accompany us without us really knowing them.
There are plenty of people who say “hello” to me, too; radio hosts, columnists, authors. Their voice reassures me or confronts me. Most of the time, she gives me the impression of being seen. At least just a little.
I wouldn’t even dare to dream of being one of those you choose for distant companions. But since I come across your morning, once in a while, you might as well have an idea of what drives you…
Do you put milk in your coffee? (I’ve never understood people who sweeten it; don’t tell me you sweeten it.)
Are you sleeping well these days?
What keeps you awake? Give you hope? Make you want to scream?
I know that I usually talk a lot, but here I am listening.