Greetings And Good-Byes

You are walking down a hall when you see someone you know walking toward you. Do you:

1. Walk past without a words or acknowledgment
2. Nod and continue walking
3. Say hello

You would think that to most people, this question would be a no-brainer. Unfortunately, in this day and age, it has become common to ignore people instead of taking a few moments of precious time to give a proper greeting. I remember when I was younger, one day I was not happy with my dad so when he said good morning to me I pretended like I didn’t hear him. Boy, did I get an earful about returning a greeting if given one. The younger generations, however, seem to either not have been taught this lesson or choose to forget about the common courtesy of greeting someone. As the kid president said so eloquently “Be cool to people even when they’re not cool to you. Then we’ll all be cool.” Even if it’s someone you don’t know, would it really take so much time out of your day to give a nod or smile to someone you pass? It may just make their day.

On the other hand of things, you have goodbyes. Lately, I’ve noticed a trend of people I’m on the phone with at the end of a conversion just hang up without saying goodbye. Call me old fashioned, but I feel this is rude. Saying some form of goodbye brings a clear end to a conversion. This is true for face to face conversions and a sign of respect toward the other person. It is also respectful to say goodbye when you leave a place and there are people are around. You never know if someone will be looking around for you later and not know that you left. Whenever possible, I tell my boss that I’m leaving work at the end of my shift and I ask if there is anything else they need me to do before I leave. That way, if there was something they forgot to tell me they can, and my boss isn’t wondering where I went all of a sudden.