How Do Strangers Greet Each Other on The Street In Your Town?

[rucky]

if at all?

In Portland, you look 'em in the eyes & nod your head. Smiles are optional.

[Cuban_Liberal]

1. Here:

Central IL is normally a "Howdy!" or "Hello!", with a smile.:)

[Intelsucks]

4. I didn't realize "Howdy" migrated that far North

:shrug:

[Cuban_Liberal]

20. Yes.

I thinks it's actually more rural than Southern. :)

[Kamika]

2. hey how are'ya

Houston

Well maybe not every stranger that would be alot.. but othervise

[patricia92243]

3. They don't. I don't believe most people greet strangers anymore.

[rucky]

5. I didn't think so until I moved out of LA

and actually tried.

It took a few tries before I found the nod method. It works about 75% of the time.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

9. Its like that here in Morgantown...

I get annoyed at the whole look down as you pass somebody. I'm a friendly person who likes to make eye contact with folks, not some masher who wants to do harm to every person I see.

Maybe its me, but American society seems to have gotten less friendly of late. Is it a fear thing, or a power/ego thing? Someone explain please?

[phaseolus]

6. "Howzuh go-ih"

...for males, while trying not to look too happy. For females, "hello".

- Milwaukee area.

[MasonJar]

7. In Kentucky, you just say "hi" and smile and walk on by.

[TrogL]

8. French Kiss

Of course, it depends what street.

[Habibi]

16. Gosh.

Where do *you* live??

[SOteric]

23. I got one of those from a stranger at a party once.

He was dreamy.

Must have been Canadian.

[aquart]

10. We don't. NYC.

If we have something to say, we just start talking.

[TheMightyFavog]

11. NYC? I thought they used the finger over there.

End of Line.

[Stephanie]

18. Now we all know you've never been here

Way to go

[TheMightyFavog]

22. Yeah you're right...

Pardon my lame attempt at humor.

:spank:

[bleedingheart]

12. smile and say hi! Pittsburghers are very talkative

today while walking into work this woman, stranger to me, and I heard tiny dogs yipping from a yard and we both just started blathering about it as if we had known each other for years...

[Eureka]

13. G'day

But I'm an Aussie, what did you expect :-)

If we feel like being talkative, G'Day Mate. The mate tacked onto the end is the "warm and friendly" version.

For those thinking of travelling here, G'Day Mate will be acceptable in almost all instances, from family, people you are intimate with, people you don't know, the Queen :-)

I once was crossing a street in Sydney and noticed an ex-PM (Keating) standing next to me. So I used it "G'day Mate" and got the standard answer "G'day" (Your ex-leaders just wander around on their own don't they?)

[KamaAina]

14. Aloha! (in Waikiki) Howzit? (in the real world)

all right, the rest of the island isn't the real world, either... :-)

[Sticky]

15. I live in a rural area

where just about everyone is a farmer.

Whenever old guys in overalls meet on the street they ask, "How ya doin'? Did you git your wood in?"

No kidding. I hear it (and smile to myself) all the time.:)

[Habibi]

17. When I lived in MN, you'd smile and say "Hi,"

but here in Rochester, NY, you only do that if you've seen the same person about 1 million times. People just aren't friendly to strangers here.

[fudge stripe cookays]

19. A smiley "hey!"

I think it's a Texan thing.

[NJCher]

21. friendliness optional

On occasion, someone might give a greeting.

If you greet the other person, you will almost always get a friendly response.

It's also kind of like Aquart says. Sometimes we just start talking about whatever topic is at hand.

I like it this way. There are some days when I'm in no mood to expend any friendly psychological energy on anyone. And that's OK by everyone.

On the other hand, my husband is great at having fun with total strangers. I've seen him crack up the entire line while waiting at the bakery. He always has a good time with the server when we go to a restaurant.


Cher

[SOteric]

24. A polite nod, maybe a weak wave. No words, minimal eye contact.

[greendog]

25. Eye contact, smile.....

....and it's more common with the older retired folks around here....the busy, self important types don't always acknowledge each other on the street.

Last year I lived in a little rural town where everyone would smile, wave, say hi, or stop and talk to anyone walking through town. When cars passed each other on the road the drivers ALWAYS waved, whether they knew each other or not.

[Snow]

26. In Altadena (part of LA),

it's "Howzit goin'?", "How're ya doin'?" and one replies with "Pretty good. Yourself?"

It's a really friendly community. I like it a lot. And people are sincere about the greeting.

[Sapphocrat]

27. Quick nod & polite smile...

...downtown, anyway. If you're in the residential neighborhoods, you'll usually get a "Hello" as well.

It confused the daylights out of a friend of mine visiting here from New York; he took an early morning walk around the neighborhood, then came home and asked why people were so much as looking him in the eye, let alone smiling and saying "Good morning."

[arwalden]

28. Look AWAY!! Do not, do NOT make eye contact. It only makes them angry...

cross the street before you pass them (if possible). Otherwise keep your finger on the trigger of your spray mace can and walk quickly. After you pass... listen to make certain that THEIR footsteps fade away and that they didn't double-back and start following you.

-- Allen

[rasputin1952]

29. This is true...

when I was growing up in NYC, as a teen, we'd greet known people with,
"Hey Scumbag!" w/a reply of, "Nuttin' much, how the fuck are ya"?

Naturally, this was generally among friends and close acquaintances. A, "Hey Scumbag", to someone you didn't know would usually end up with someone going to a dentist.

I've lived all over this country, and am happy to report that Americans are truly great people! I've been down the, "Good Morning", "Hello", "How are you"?, "Waz Up"?, "Howdy", and virtually every other type of greeting that one can come up with.

Once, in AZ, a woman passed me by, and said, "Good Morning! Isn't it a great day to be alive"! I thought this was fantastic, especially after I heard her say it to a person about 10 feet behind me, just her way to make someone's day a little brighter; it sure worked for me!

O8)

[loftycity]

32. Minneapolis

Make no eye contact and look the other way.
A bizzare up-tight place.

[maggrwaggr]

30. LA: do not make eye contact, hope they don't ask for $, and they're not

contagious.

If they're really hot, stare at them. They'll ignore you anyway.

[BigMcLargehuge]

31. I'm in New England

we don't make eye contact.

[AngryAmish]

33. Gunplay

Murder City, USA. And damn proud of it here in Chicago.

[ScreamingMeemie]

34. Here in Detroit, People seem to like to avert their eyes in greeting.

Ignore them and maybe they'll go away. Being from Wisconsin I am used to starting up conversations with the people in line with me at the market etc...I'd say seven out of 10 times I get minimal response and once a really crabby older gentleman told me to shut up...I still get hurt thinking of that...sniffle.

[foreigncorrespondent]

35. Just a quick...

...G'day and a nod!