Board 8 > Someone greets you as they walk past. Do you respond?

(+) Yeah! (+)

No one will read this so pfff. My experience was at werk, but try to respond generally as you would in most circumstances.

Clearly and audibly said good morning to a coworker and got a whole lot of nothing aside from brief eye contact. Made me wonder how b8 is generally about this sort of thing!

My ranked preferences are as follows:

1. Yes, I respond in kind but not repeating them
2. Yes, I respond by repeating what the person said back to them
3. Yes, I respond to these with playful yet untraceable non sequiturs
4. crazyisgood
5. Yes, I make a noise or grunt
6. No, I nod my head/wave/other friendly gesture
7. No, I make eye contact but nothing else
8. No, I avoid eye contact and/or walk faster
9. No, and when I see someone approaching me, I run away [possibly in abject terror]

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I'm assuming this is someone I don't know well or not at all, in which case I say as little as possible to be polite but also making it clear I am not inviting them to have a conversation

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Leonhart4 posted...

I'm assuming this is someone I don't know well or not at all, in which case I say as little as possible to be polite but also making it clear I am not inviting them to have a conversation

You are assuming correctly. This theoretical person is a stranger/coworker/acquaintance and not someone you know well/are friends with/are otherwise related to or go way back.

Good question!

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I say "hi"
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Whenever an NPC greets me I usually respond in kind, though not necessarily the same words. I often remark on the weather if it's gorgeous out and tell them to enjoy the day to the fullest.

Often times, I greet the NPC first.
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KingButz posted...

I say "hi"

This counts as responding in kind, imo. It's pleasant and widely applicable.

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BlueCrystalTear posted...

Whenever an NPC greets me I usually respond in kind, though not necessarily the same words. I often remark on the weather if it's gorgeous out and tell them to enjoy the day to the fullest.

Often times, I greet the NPC first.

Whoa, bold move on greeting them first! I like the comments on weather and the well wishes, solid response here.

[Whenever I read NPC, I think, "I hear the king has a new advisor".]

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So if it's a greeting I might use at the moment I will often repeat.
If it's not, which is the usual, I'll just pick what I feel like-- often I'll just say "morning" (even if it's not morning)

Sometimes I just nod to them, option 6.

Whether I just nod or whatever mostly depends on my mood at the time.

2 > 6 > 1 >> 3 > 7 I'd say. I don't think I've ever done any of the others.

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i'll always respond - feels super awkward to be left totally hanging

i voted for "respond with one of those bizarre non sequiturs" but i guess that's only if i've been greeted with a "how's it going?!" or something similar to that

otherwise in practice it's more like 2, respond in-kind but not necessarily repeating their words
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Almost always non verbal acknowledgement

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Lopen posted...

So if it's a greeting I might use at the moment I will often repeat.
If it's not, which is the usual, I'll just pick what I feel like-- often I'll just say "morning" (even if it's not morning)

Sometimes I just nod to them, option 6.

Whether I just nod or whatever mostly depends on my mood at the time.

2 > 6 > 1 >> 3 > 7 I'd say. I don't think I've ever done any of the others.

That works, a nod is good imo.

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SeabassDebeste posted...

i voted for "respond with one of those bizarre non sequiturs" but i guess that's only if i've been greeted with a "how's it going?!" or something similar to that

I appreciate that someone voted for this one.

And yeah, it does feel weird to be left hanging? Obviously, it doesn't feel terrible, but it is a mixed bag emotionally.

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1, 2, or 4 depending on the greeting received

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foolm0r0n posted...

Almost always non verbal acknowledgement

This makes sense. It's acknowledgement! It counts.

Tangentially related: do verbal greetings kinda put people on the spot?

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Almost always dont make any acknowledgment or just say Hi and nothing else to get out of there as fast as possible

For a coworker I'd respond verbally, probably just "Hi!"

In most other circumstances (e.g. I'm out taking a walk, some random person greets me) I'd probably just nod or wave.
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Llarian posted...

This makes sense. It's acknowledgement! It counts.

Tangentially related: do verbal greetings kinda put people on the spot?

Eye contact can also be acknowledgement tho

And yes, if you haven't "warmed up" your voice yet

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I have a family member that says, "Howdy" when passing strangers while out walking. Only then. "Howdy" is not used by them in any other context.

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I usually just do a "Hey"

It's feels a little uncomfortable when someone's greeting is "How's it going?" and I respond with just "Hey" but I grew used to it because like 80% of people around here use that.

And I also tend to walk faster afterward.

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If I'm asked "how's it going" the answer is always "pretty good," it's my perpetual state
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"How ya doin'" is my almost invariable response.

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Esuriat posted...

I usually just do a "Hey"

It's feels a little uncomfortable when someone's greeting is "How's it going?" and I respond with just "Hey" but I grew used to it because like 80% of people around here use that.

I mean, it's not exactly what people are expecting, but it's also not on the level of "enjoy your meal" from a serviceperson and you say "you too". So that's a plus.

And I also tend to walk faster afterward.

'Stranger trying to talk to me' = salesperson in my Chicagoan brain, and I do not want any part of that.

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I've always found it weird when people use "How ya doin'?" as a passing greeting and then they don't bother to stick around for the response

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Leonhart4 posted...

I've always found it weird when people use "How ya doin'?" as a passing greeting and then they don't bother to stick around for the response

I don't say it with an upward inflection, so it's not really meant as a question so much as an acknowledgement.

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Good morning/afternoon.

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NBIceman posted...

I don't say it with an upward inflection, so it's not really meant as a question so much as an acknowledgement.

I mean, I get they don't actually want a response when they do it. It's just like the most perfunctory attempt at politeness.

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I say 'hey' or 'y'alright' usually with a head nod of recognition.

Nobody actually expects an answer to a 'how you doing?' style question I think!

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I don't find it to be any more or less perfunctory than any other form of greeting but hey, different strokes!

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i try to respond but sometimes i'm lost in thought and i don't realize a person was addressing me until it's too late and they've already walked by. always feel bad when that happens.

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It's just the act of asking a question you don't actually want them to respond to

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andylt posted...

Nobody actually expects an answer to a 'how you doing?' style question I think!

Depends on culture maybe? I've heard that Americans generally don't often expect a response, but people from other countries might give you an extremely detailed response.

Leonhart4 posted...

It's just the act of asking a question you don't actually want them to respond to

This is the part that confused me for years. It's a question! Even if I respond in a generic way, they still want a response...right?

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I think I'm speaking from the perspective of the person on the other end who's tried to answer and they're already around the corner and out of earshot. It's just an awkward feeling of "oh I guess they didn't actually want to know"

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I never know how to respond to 'sup

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GuessMyUserName posted...

I never know how to respond to 'sup

'sup

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@GuessMyUserName
btw let me guess your username

GuessMyUserName is your username

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Yeah, I always feel like it's understood to not really be a question because of the way I say it.

Like, I also say "How ya doin'?" when I'm actually asking someone how they're doing, but in a noticeably different way.

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GuessMyUserName posted...

I never know how to respond to 'sup

Aside from saying it back, I've always heard "Not much, you?" in response to 'sup

Unless you're at a Renaissance Faire, in which case food may be involved.

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it's actually a reference towards my original user name before this one which is still an active account technically!

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"S'up?" is probably the one greeting where I'll respond in kind

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GuessMyUserName posted...

it's actually a reference towards my original user name before this one which is still an active account technically!

what is your original username then?

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Scrappymatt10 posted...

what is your original username then?

this

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whoa mind is blown

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Could always pretend to do sign language and hope they don't know it. Depends on the mood I'm in I might just wave or give them a verbal response.

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