Can't You At Least Say 'Good Morning'
I'm walking to the bus and I past by a woman. Naturally, I say 'Good morning'. She didn't even acknowledge that I was sharing the same space with her. I thought, 'that's very interesting. Let me see how many people will say good morning back to me.'
So I step on the bus and I say good morning to the bus driver. "Mornin" was his response. Ok, I can accept that. I make a point to walk to the back of the bus and I say good morning to six other individuals. Two spoke back, one gentlemen nodded his head and the rest sat like a lump on a log.
I exit the bus at the transit center and like I do every morning, I make my way to the roach coach. "Morning, baby" the lady behind the counter says to me. She says this every morning. I bellow out, 'Good morning. How are things going?' She responds, "Oh, I'm fine, baby. Seventy-five cents please.'
I pay for my coffee and walk towards the bus stop. I say good morning to a few gentlemen waiting but they don't respond. I figure they couldn't speak English so I won't count them. My next bus arrive and like before, I say good morning to the bus driver. No response. I decide to sit at the front of the bus and with four other people already sitting. Instead of saying good morning, I look at all of them and nod my head. Nothing.
I exit the bus and I see a gentleman running to catch it. I bang on the bus door and yell for the bus driver to stop. He stops the bus and opens the door. The running gentleman says 'Thank you Amigo" and I respond, "It's cool, you have yourself a good day." And I genuinely hope he does.
Saying good morning doesn't require much effort. So why is it so rare to hear?
11:17 AM I have often observed the same behavior from about 90% of folks I encounter.
I am a "neighborly" kind of guy and believe we should at least acknowledge one another, unfortunately it looks like most people are too busy, or see no inherent value in doing this. Common courtesy has been abandoned, maybe because there is no money in it.
I have even been alone on an elevator with someone and had my greeting ignored. A little awkward to say the least!
1:59 PM My guess is people don't wanna be bothered...plain and simple - no matter how rude it may be NOT to respond.
I'm sure that when I'm walking from the train station to my office, many a construction worker has probably tried to say "good morning" to me...but I'm usually listening to my iPod and it's usually turned up so loud that you'd haveto literally jump your ass in front of me and flag me down to get a response...why? Because I don't feel like being bothered. Plain and simple.
BUT...if I'm aware that someone is trying to speak, I always respond (whether I really want to or not)...Manners go a long way...
Happy Friday James...
4:29 PM I think it's part of the "be very afraid of strangers" thing we have going on these days. On the other hand, I always think it's weird when a customer scolds me for "not smiling enough"!
5:03 PM I'm generally poker faced and don't crack a smile to save my life.
BUT
I DO acknowledge folks that say hi to you; in fact, I especially make it a habit to make sure I give AT least a "Just for being black" smile, and definitely say hi.
It feels good, yanno.
Take care of you, J.
11:35 PM I agree with Tom. My first thought when reading this was that my parents told me not to speak to strangers. Mind you I do make an effort to speak now that I'm an adult, but it takes a conscious effort.
11:32 AM I get the same thing, dude... It's that "Don't talk to strangers" phenomenon... Go figure...
Thought i was the only one that felt that way. ~sigh~
9:22 PM Not sure but folks sure have changed. They don't speak, support each other or look out for each others. Its' a new day and time.
1:50 AM James,
In the South growing up, everybody greeted each other, even the people that you knew for sure hated or didn't care for you or your people.
These days not too many people greet each other, unless you get outside of the Atlanta area- there people greet each other like they used to.
I still greet people like I was taught growing up. I would say 2 out of 10 return my greetings. Sometimes Sad, but that's life these days.
later'
6:23 AM I don't know, but especially in the morning, I like to be silent and not be bothered by overly nice midwestern folks as I walk to my office. Seriously, it is not necessary to say hello to me EVERY time I walk by you in the hallway. Maybe that just means I'm a morning person, or I live in the wrong part of the country.
I'll be the first person to talk to strangers when I have a question or want specific information, but I'm not a fan of the say hello to everyone you see thing. But I also don't like it when random guys open the door for me.
7:27 AM People can't speak because they refused to be present and engaged in reality.
Sh*t, being distracted is seductive.
10:30 PM You do wonder why others don't smile or respond with a greeting. I may not always go out of my way to speak to strangers but I sure would respond if someone was nice enough to smile or give me a greeting.
6:32 AM Yo James I believe that a lot of people are doing thier own thing and are too busy with themselves. Also you generally have people who are not people persons and they do seem to feel a need to make small talk like good moring or evening.
9:04 AM Damn James, Don't you know? You live in Southern California. The folks here are too busy on the phone or thinking about how they are going to afford gas for their Benz. They can't be bothered with minor things like civility.
We ain't in Kansas any more toto...
This is one of the biggest reasons I love the south. It doesn't matter who you are or where, You all ways say "Hey" or "morning" to folks. Common courtesy is missing these days.
9:43 AM it's the curse of the IPOD
9:53 AM I tend to say 'good morning' at all times of the day...in the morning I usually get a response, but at other times I just get a smile. Once in a great while I can get someone to unkowingly respond 'good morning' at 8 or 9 pm.
Then again, I do live in the midwest...