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Saturday, October 13, 2007

An Ohio Guy Rattles Rhode Island: Says 'Good Morning,' Smiles And Waves

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Thad Davis of Bellevue, Ohio is making news in New England because he stood on a busy downtown street between two hotels smiling and cheerfully waving. He carried a homemade sign telling everyone "Good Morning!" At first, people in Providence, R.I. didn't know what to think. Maybe he wanted money?

Nope. He was just trying to spread some joy. Today's Providence Journal has the story about Davis, 41, a freight train conductor, who was in town for a health care convention with his wife, who helps run a a residential care center in Van Wert, Ohio. Writer Tom Mooney found Davis on the street, where people might have suspected he was panhandling:

"Why, he wasn't asking for a thing; their befuddled faces finally began to register with the slimmest of smiles. He was offering something.

"'Good morning!" exclaimed Thad Davis to everyone around him. He twisted to the left, the right and checked around him, leading always with a waving hand, 'Good morning! . . . How are you? . . . Have a good day!'

"He carried his sign in the other hand. Drawn with a hotel pen on the back of a 55-cent UPS envelope, it offered the same wake-up greeting, though reflecting the Southern, folksy vernacular he's used to: Good Mornin'."

Davis lives in Ohio, but grew up in North Carolina. And if you ever happen to see this Mr. Davis, The Bellwether would like to say:

Good Mornin', to you, sir. Have a great day.

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