| | Now, I'd categorize myself into the category of "friendly
people." I generally like to say hi to people, generally smile at
people when I pass them. This is not the case for everyone, which
I totally understand. There are many people in the world who do
not enjoy saying hi to strangers as they pass them. And when I
say strangers, I mean fellow students. I'm not talking about
saying hi to completely random people- that could get a little
dangerous. But, just acknowledging that the other person is there
would be nice.
I do not think this is really a strange concept- saying hi to people
who are your peers as you pass them, regardless of whether you know
them or not. I mean, it's not that risky. It's kind of a
nice gesture, really.
However, I understand that this may be my extroverted self talking, so I offer some tips for ignoring someone as they pass you:
Okay, if you are going to pretend like you don't see someone as you
walk towards him/her on a sidewalk, there are certain things you cannot
do.
(1) You cannot simply be looking ahead because there is no way on earth
that you do not notice someone as you walk past him or her. No
way. None whatsoever.
(2)You cannot all of a sudden look down. It doesn't work.
Just doesn't. People don't randomly look down just as other
people past them unless they are avoiding eye contact.
So some completely believable ways to avoid acknowledging someone's existence on a path:
(1) Phone- I have been known to get on my phone/act like I'm
text-messaging someone as I'm passing. However, this only works
if you are still a far ways from the other person, so it does not look
obvious. Talking on the phone doesn't work as well because your
eyes are still busy and your head is up, so smiling would be
required. (I'm sort of embarrassed to admit that I've used this
one.
(2) Act like you're talking to someone else. This, obviously,
only works if you're walking with someone. I get very involved in
my conversations, so it could be very possible for me to be turned in
such a way to not know someone was walking by me...
Along this line of thinking, I would like to apologize to the guy that
I tried to avoid eye contact with one time as I passed him. I
don't know him, but I most definitely looked down as he passed by,
thinking he would think I was just lost in thought. He actually
acted like a nice guy, though, and said hi to me, which startled me so
much (as I wasn't expecting someone to actually say hi as I passed)
that I jumped and spitted out, "Hi! I'm good." Embarrassing, and
I apologize.
The moral of the story is: Say hi to people, be friendly. They'll be appreciative.
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| | Posted 4/5/2006 11:36 PM - 23 Views - 6 eProps - 3 comments
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Great entry!