If you are going for a walk in your neighborhood and say "hi" do people usually respond or do they just stare at you and walk past like your a criminal?

well it depends, do you walk with a ski mask? are you black?

Depends what neighborhood you are in and what color your skin is.

The normal response to 'Hi', usually is; 'gimme your wallet'.

-Saying 'Hi', *DON'T DO IT*!


.

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"Why don't you LOSERS just pack your flower print DOUCHE BAGS
and get your stoopid @$$#$ THE FUCK OFF MY INTERNETZ!"

- 'philscamms' (the YT Watchdog) ; internet & YouTube® extraordinaire.

no ski mask, not black, university student age walking a dog, not that much of that matters anyway, i am talking about just in general in the neighborhood most people just stare and don't reply. its kinda odd.

walk away Wrote:
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> no ski mask, not black, university student age
> walking a dog, not that much of that matters
> anyway, i am talking about just in general in the
> neighborhood most people just stare and don't
> reply. its kinda odd.


That is odd. Everyone's very friendly in my neighborhood. But, then again,
it's a very family oriented barrio with a lot of single homes.
Sometimes if you're in an area with a lot of apartment complexes people
keep to themselves more...maybe because it's a more transient population?...idk

What kind of neighborhood is it?

its a normal family neighborhood with single family houses no apartments, springfield/burke area. others are always walking around also. Some people talk and most just stare at you like they are too good or something.

Just not at 4AM, apparently.

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13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

It's just the area - - I've been here 20+ years and I still haven't gotten used to it. Lots of transients, foreigners, and self-important hyper-competitive/arrogant types. I am friendly and polite by nature and get a response about half the time. I have lived in NYC and haven't seen it as bad there. Just deal with it, don't change, keep saying hi and don't get too offended; you will meet some nice people.

walk away Wrote:
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> its a normal family neighborhood with single
> family houses no apartments, springfield/burke
> area. others are always walking around also.
> Some people talk and most just stare at you like
> they are too good or something.


Yeah, those are yankees bringing their big scary sophistication to the suburbs,,,

"Courtesy doesn't cost you anything"

Don't change who you are because someone else doesn't know how to act in polite society

Fuck'em

kill yourself

NOW!

==================================================================================
"Why don't you LOSERS just pack your flower print DOUCHE BAGS
and get your stoopid @$$#$ THE FUCK OFF MY INTERNETZ!"

- 'philscamms' (the YT Watchdog) ; internet & YouTube® extraordinaire.

Really helpful Fatty and Troll - jeez. Walkaway, you seem like a nice person; ignore those tools.

never say hi, never say hi back; if someone I don't know says anything to me, I just pretend I didn't hear them.

I say "hi" to most people that I walk by. I'd say the majority of them respond back with "hi". But there's always some who just ignore me.

what, do you get your jollies by saying "hi" to complete strangers. That's creepy. People who don't know each other should not talk to each other, for any reason.

walk away Wrote:
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> its a normal family neighborhood with single
> family houses no apartments, springfield/burke
> area. others are always walking around also.
> Some people talk and most just stare at you like
> they are too good or something.


It's not you. It's them.

Not very cool..but don't you change.

Spread kindness everyday.

Answer Walkaways' question, and quit being such a jerk. Walk away raises a good point; keep your idiotic comments on Off-topic.

You must be very lonely if you don't talk to people you don't know. Kinda a catch 22 eh? If you don't talk to people you don't know how do you make friends? Curious minds want to know.

I don't make friends. I listen to "Bad Boys" by Inner Circle:



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I apologize to those I unfairly hurt. To Harry Tuttle in particular.

­



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2013 05:28PM by chuckhoffmann.

What is this - - pledge week or boot camp? Answer the question - - or I guess you actually have to leave the house in order to have an opinion.

Thank you ChuckHoffman - an honest and eerily creepy response. Well played, sir.

We had an entire thread about this back last Spring or Winter I believe. Basically, I know almost everyone on my street, so if I say "Hi" to them we talk. Elsewhere, it's really a crap shoot. I've had people stare at me like I'm a potential serial killer, but other times people have been really nice. The nicer folks generally seem to be newer residents, or at least younger couples. The only people on my street who act weird as shit are these new group of teens, and random teens from other neighborhoods (They don't even belong here in the first place). When it's people from other neighborhoods who snub me on my own street, I really have the urge to tell them to fuck off. 90% of the folks on my block are cool, so we don't need the assholes around here.

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"And if any women or children get their legs torn off, or faces caved in, well, it's tough shit for them." -2LT. Bert Stiles, 505th, 339th (On Berlin Bombardier Mission, 1944).

posting threads and answering them under multiple names is just...sad!

I live in white upper middle class neighborhood, am also white, and when I walk my my dog no one says hello and rarely says hi back, I have been here almost two years and barely have met anyone, I must admit I thought when I stopped renting an apt and bought a house I could have neighborhoods I could talk too but that is not the case. A few are friendly.

I meant neighbors I can talk to, not neighborhoods, getting tired over here.

I usually say hi once maybe twice no response just ignore them

pisses me off when some asshole walking a dog switches the leash hand so the the dog is now on the inside of sidewalk as i walk by i'll mumble a-hole move as i pass by from time to time on that one, got bit twice as kid back in the days when dogs roamed free through the neighborhoods
why does everybody seem to need a dog these days? I had a dog as a kid but geez seems like a good 80% of folks living in my condo have to have a dog

ed garvey Wrote:
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> I usually say hi once maybe twice no response just
> ignore them
>
> pisses me off when some asshole walking a dog
> switches the leash hand so the the dog is now on
> the inside of sidewalk as i walk by i'll mumble
> a-hole move as i pass by from time to time on that
> one, got bit twice as kid back in the days when
> dogs roamed free through the neighborhoods
> why does everybody seem to need a dog these days?
> I had a dog as a kid but geez seems like a good
> 80% of folks living in my condo have to have a dog


Dogs are replacements for friends, children and family. Dog lovers have a special relationship with their best friend. My neighbor spends more time with his dog than his 5 year old son. He even takes the dog out for a drive (top down) for a treat at the local dog bakery (Fetch's in Lorton) It's sad to see this young family so wrapped up in their dog. The wife and mother in this family walks/jogs with the dog but has never taken her two children to the tot lot or the pool.


The local dog park is always packed with these folks who love their four legged children and owners who treat themselves to a $4.00 starbucks.

When I take my morning walk, I always say hi to the hot girl with the tight top and hard nipples. When I pass the fat old cow walking the dog, I keep staring straight ahead.

Maybe it's not that these people are unfriendly, maybe they just don't consider strangers walking down the street as the appropriate time/place to meet new friends. Sadly, some people are just uber-paranoid and would rather not talk to anyone than talk & risk becoming the victim of some gruesome crime. You can blame the news for that. Without some concept of what the actual risk is, people assume that the risk it will happen to them is much higher than it really is, and so in their mind, it's rational never to engage strangers because there's some real chance that they'll get mugged or murdered or whatever.

Also, when I see a lot of people out walking dogs, I get the sense they are trying to get it done as soon as possible so they can get back and get ready for work, cook dinner, go to bed etc. So maybe they just aren't in the mood to do the "stop and chat" with someone they don't know and, at that point, really has very little to offer them. I don't care either way, but just wanted to add a counterpoint. You really shouldn't let something like this bother you or affect your social life - it's probably just that meeting new people in certain communities happens in a different social setting than what you're used to (i.e. not on the street). Go early to the next HOA meeting if you really want to meet your neighbors. That setting - while you're just sitting around waiting for the meeting - is way more appropriate for a neighbor chat, and I bet people would be more responsive. My point is, different social groups/communities have a different social etiquette, and it sounds like your approach isn't within your current community's comfort zone. Rather than just assuming everyone is an impolite recluse, maybe just try to understand that they could have different ideas on how this neighbor thing is supposed to work.

If you find people just staring at you for no apparent reason, Zip up your fly.

"It's just the area - - I've been here 20+ years and I still haven't gotten used to it. Lots of transients, foreigners, and self-important hyper-competitive/arrogant types. I am friendly and polite by nature and get a response about half the time. I have lived in NYC and haven't seen it as bad there. Just deal with it, don't change, keep saying hi and don't get too offended; you will meet some nice people."


+1

I've been around 10 years now and it still bugs me. I still say hi, smile, and nod. Without a connection to others there is no sense of community. Keep saying hi. Wish you lived in my neighborhood (o:

I'm pretty shy (or anti-social) when it comes to people I don't know, so i don't go out of my way to say hi in public. But if someone initiates it, I'll kindly respond. The only real exception is at my kids' schools or my neighborhood, because I don't want to seem like an asshole since I see a lot of the same people.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

I usually say "Hi" or "Good Morning/Evening" when I walk past someone in our neighborhood. Or maybe just smile and nod my head. Or if they appear to be determined to ignore me or not make eye contact I just do the same.

Being an very busy person I can tell you though why some people are reluctant to acknowledge anyone. Saying Hello or acknowledging another person who is lonely or bored can inadvertently result in a 10-15 minute one-sided conversation which a lot of people don't want to have. I'd be a lot friendlier myself if I knew saying Hello and making a minute or two of small talk would not result in the other person thinking they have found a new best friend.

Norther Virginia is LOADED with anti-socials. LOADED. Try not to take it personally. It's their problem, fear, hole in the head, whatever...

I agree NoVa is loaded with anti-socials, the atmosphere here is workaholic and is perfect for people who do not have social skills or are content to have the same friends since grade school and no more. I have met so many people down here who literally have not made a new friend in decades and are content to keep it that way. I also think the area is very transient, a lot of people just down here temporarily or for school, working short term in the area for the government, etc. I meet a lot of people who came down here because their spouse/significant other got a job and didn't really choose to come on their own accord and are hoping to leave. Just this past week I met two people dying to move to Charlotte, which I thought was not a safe area and does not have good schools for children but maybe I am mistaken. I have met very few people who seem to really love the area and/or want to stay indefinitely.

It sounds like the neighborhood I'm in. The worst thing is to encounter two women (usually moms) walking and talking on the sidewalk. They will NOT move over to allow the person walking in the other direction to use the sidewalk. I have encountered some moms who are extremely rude and seem to think that because there are two of them, and they're talking, that they can take up the whole sidewalk (usually they are large women, too). If they have strollers, they're even worse. And they will keep up their conversation with their gal pal in order to determinedly ignore sharing the sidewalk with you, as though whatever drivel they are blathering about is really that important.

UGH.

+1

This should be a new thread.

Go out to local trail on a weekend and try to get your bike around people walking five abreast, it takes everything I have not to yell at them. I assume they just don't know any better, but a little common sense and some awareness that there's a lane divide should make the etiquette pretty clear.


Vern Wrote:
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> It sounds like the neighborhood I'm in. The
> worst thing is to encounter two women (usually
> moms) walking and talking on the sidewalk. They
> will NOT move over to allow the person walking in
> the other direction to use the sidewalk. I have
> encountered some moms who are extremely rude and
> seem to think that because there are two of them,
> and they're talking, that they can take up the
> whole sidewalk (usually they are large women,
> too). If they have strollers, they're even
> worse. And they will keep up their conversation
> with their gal pal in order to determinedly ignore
> sharing the sidewalk with you, as though whatever
> drivel they are blathering about is really that
> important.
>
> UGH.

I've been lucky in that people in my neighborhood are generally friendly and chat if we're out walking dogs or something. Despite that, I only yesterday met people who have lived in my neighborhood for as long as I have - over a decade.

I always wave when driving past folks and they usually wave back. I don't feel a compelling need to enforce rural deportment on people but it's nice to at least know faces. When the Inevitable Breakdown(tm) comes, it'll be good to know who has skills.

I do hear that it's considered a mortal sin for a man to say hi or even look at kids these days, because the maladjusted helicopter moms will swoop from the trees like harpies and either chew you out or call the police. I smile, tell them about the "free range kids" blog and the Penn & Teller episode about "Stranger Danger."

I haven't had that happen yet, but there aren't a lot of kids around my neighborhood and people are polite when I have a sidearm on. I'm just sayin'.

I acknowlege everyone that I pass find that about 40% of the folks in this area reciprocate the cordial intent. The other 60% are just assholes; the same such percentage of assholes that inhabit the rest of this planet

Lunge forward in an agressive stance. If they flinch, smile and make a friend, tell 'em you're just "joshin' 'em a lil bit"

IF they look like they'll fight back, run or call the cops like any good snitch.

idontlikebeingrightaboutshitlikethisbutiam



Edited 21 time(s). Last edit at 5/31/1967 05:57AM by WingNut.

Last edit at 11/30/2015 01:37PM Last edit at 5/14/2015 03:52PM Last edit at 1/28/2014 05:57AM Last edit at 11/29/2015 01:10PM Last edit at 3/14/2011 11:52PM Last edit at 7/20/2012 04:07AM
Last edit at 6/29/2013 11:18PM Last edit at 3/19/2011 01:02PM Last edit at 3/26/2012 09:07PM

I take walks regularly in my neighborhood (near WT Woodson high school) and say hello and sometimes more to people as I pass. I almost always get a friendly response.

Having a little son in tow helps I think.

WingNut Wrote:
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> Lunge forward in an agressive stance. If they
> flinch, smile and make a friend, tell 'em you're
> just "joshin' 'em a lil bit"
>
> IF they look like they'll fight back, run or call
> the cops like any good snitch.

Best advice ever!

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13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.