<p>This topic basically illustrates why I don’t bother interacting with folks I don’t have to. Being exposed to a lot more Americans this year has gotten me to this point.</p>
<p>Where I live, if you’re walking on the street, you definitely say “hi” with a smile and wave to the people you pass. It’s really rude not to. If you actually know the person, you say “How are you?” and you get that “Good, you?” “Good” response and then you just keep walking.</p>
<p>I live in the city, so cars passing don’t really garner hand waves… but whenever I go to my grandmother’s house (she lives in the country about half an hour away from me), if I’m driving… I definitely wave at everyone I pass, because they wave at me… And I never know them. It’s just what you do.</p>
<p>Of course… When people move here they always ask why strangers are waving at them. I always have to remember when I’m not in the south anymore that you’re really not supposed to acknowledge strangers. lol</p>
<p>I’m a very very very very shy person, so I don’t say hi to people unless they say hi to me back, and when I’m sure they’re talking to me and not someone behind me or next to me. I remember responding “hi” to people whom I thought were addressing me back in high school, but it turned out that they were talking to their friends who were behind me or near me, which made me feel embarrassed and awkward.</p>
<p>But usually, my way of greeting people is to just bow my head a little.</p>
<p>lol @ LaCielle</p>
<p>I’m a very awkward person so I tend not to greet people. But mostly everyone I know says hi to me when they pass me and I only wave back.</p>
<p>It all depends on where you go to school. Here in the South we would consider a person that walked by and you said hi to them and they did not respond; rude. I however have been to the North East Coast quite a bit and people up there seem to think of it as perfectly fine behavior.</p>
<p>I would just keep saying hi and whoever says hi back i would respect, whoever doesent i would not invite to my kegger or tailgates.</p>
<p>I don’t like to greet people unless I haven’t seen them in a while. If I see them every day, it just seems pointless to me. Unless I’m close friends with them, it’s not like I’m genuinely happy to see them anyway.</p>
<p>Usually I only wave/smile/say hi to people who usually wave/smile/say hi to me. If they don’t, I don’t.</p>
<p>Its hard. Because I don’t want to say hi to them and they don’t say hi back. When I was younger I would say hi to everyone I saw on the street. But now a smile doesn’t even work, because most people will ignore it or others will reply back. I hate seeing an acquaintance because its really awkward when we both try to avoid saying hello, ridiculous I know.</p>
<p>^ You are not alone. Acquaintances, these days, like to avoid each other for some reason. You’d ask yourself why they, out of so many others, would do that…</p>
<p>Sometimes I’ll say hello to my friends and acquaintances; sometimes I won’t. Usually, the student body is in a flurry to get to class, so I don’t want to slow down anyone.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Very true</p>
<p>I don’t say hi to people anymore because I don’t know if they still like me or not. I had severe depression+ADD+Asperger’s+social anxiety a couple of years ago and managed to alienate almost everyone I knew. So that was a traumatic experience for me, especially since i also had to ask the question “does x still like me or not?” so i wait for them to respond to me, if at all.</p>