Friday, November 7, 2008

Greetings

Have you ever noticed that what ever greeting you use that person will most likely repeat it? I pass at least 30 people a day at work and I greet them all as I pass by. About 90% of the time if I speak first that person will repeat what ever greeting I use. If I say Hi they say Hi, if I say Hey, they say Hey. It even works if I say Howdy, people that have never said howdy to before will say it. Try it or think about it next time someone says hey to you if you say hey back or if you use some other greeting. Maybe you have realized this and consciously make sure you use a different greeting then the one someone greeted you with.

What about those people that you are passing in the hall and they say “how are you doing?” You both walking opposite directions, they don’t really want to know how you are doing any more then you could tell them in the brief moment as you pass by.

Last thought: we have some long hall ways here and you can see that you are going to walk by someone long before you get close enough for them to hear your greeting. When do you make eye contact and when do you greet them? You can give the “hello smile/nod” from a long way away but then do you stair at the person for the next 20 steps it takes to pass them? Do you look around at nothing avoiding the first eye contact until you are at a close enough distance to do your normal hello and repeated hello back?

Welcome to the wonderings of my brain.

2 comments:

Jessica said...

you're so cute... ♥

Katie Smith said...

if i don't really know them or don't want to talk i will avoid eye contact until the last second then smile say greeting and then look away again. on the other hand if i like this person and want to chat then i will smile right away and greet them as soon as i can and then chat their ear off.