Today, we are experiencing some truly lovely weather here in Idyllwild. It actually feels exactly like a fall day. Sunny but just a little cool, like you want a sweater on, but not so cold that you need it. Perfect weather. I decided to walk to the post office with the camp's mail. As I walked out the camp's entrance towards town I passed a man walking in the opposite direction. It was one of those awkward deals where you see each other coming, you realize you're the only two human beings in sight, You're getting closer and closer, and you're both wondering if the other party will initiate some sort of interaction (head nod, smile, hello, etc...).
Right in front of the laundromat we made eye contact, and I thought "in for penny in for a pound" so I proceeded to smile and say "hello." Nothing. He just stared right through me and walked past in stoney-silence. Like I wasn't even there!!!
That pissed me off. It really did. Who does that? We're not on the internet or something. I was a real, live person. I looked him in the eye, smiled and said "hello." The nerve of that guy. He just ignored me. We live in a society, sir! I wondered if he regretted his shabby non-response as we drifted past each other in awkward silence. I regretted not leaving for the post office five minutes later than I did so I could have missed this shifty misanthrope altogether.
I continued on, eventually meeting a man in front of the Idyllwild Water District Building, a woman in front of the liquor store, a second woman in front of The Greek Place Restaurant and two more men at the Post Office.
Of those six individuals who I greeted in passing guess how many returned in kind- JUST TWO!!! They were the two ladies.
Four of them, the four men, acted like I was a leper. This is the stuff that separates us from the barbarians, people!
We should greet people in passing and return said greetings. Am I right about that?
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Right. I think about that sort of thing a lot. When I come across a stranger I wonder of how if this was the early 20th century in a smaller society, how coming across someone might be a treat and we would embark into some lenghtly conversations. But there are so many people now a days, 4,174.8 per square mile in San Diego(according to Wikipedia), and people are so rude and concerned about so many unimportant things that we have lost that bond of being humans on this planet together.
If you want to consistently greet and be greeted on the street, you might consider a move to the South. It's a cultural thing. As you probably remember, not even at Houghton was this sort of thing a regular occurrence.
That said, once you said "Hello," the other person should have had the decency to respond somehow, unless you took them completely by surprise.
You are absolutely right. I must say, though, that more often than not, people respond to me. Do you think this is because I'm a woman? I'm going to have to pay more attention to how often people do and don't respond.
Although, as I read this post, all I could think was "Josh Tate is venturing out to the post office in daylight???? What if he is taken advantage of again???!!!"
For men, whether on foot or behind the wheel, I nod and most often they nod in turn.
I think you'd have better success with a greeting towards a man that they wouldn't suspect was merely a preamble for the bumming of a cigarette, a buck, or a battery jump.
Greeting women is a bit more complex...
Perhaps. I have only just begun my field research. Never fear, Job, I'm going to get to the bottom of this, and I will share my findings with you and the rest of the world. I wonder if perhaps your experience has been skewed by the fact that for lengthy periods of your adult life you have resembled one in need of a cigarette or some spare change. I don't think these gentlemen (in truth, barabarians) were confused on that point. I think it was abundantly clear that I was hustling past on an errand, but your theory is worthy of future exploration. You think people avoid greeting strangers for fear of becoming entangled in some sort of philanthropic/interpersonal quagmire? I wonder if I would get better results if I were jogging. You know, if I was just zipping past, and everything in my demeanor was just screaming No time to talk, but I am doing the polite thing by greeting you. Huh...
Honey, you do that head nod and sometimes they don't necessarily like it. Why am I shaming you publicly?
Because of your suggestive ellipsis after the meeting women thing
...
:) like the post, Yesh.
my security word: ingsta
it's the hybrid of gangsta and the club beat 'nntz nntz'. get down get down.
Post a Comment