If you smile and wave or say hello to a stranger on the street in your town, do they smile and wave back or look at you with fear? Do you like it that way? What part of the world are you in?
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Blessed has a COAT of many colors
ANSWERS: 19
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I smile, wave, and say "hello" to strangers all the time and have had the same experience in the U.S., England, Italy, France, and Mexico - some people smile and wave back, some ignore me, and some don't seem to notice.
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Most people will smile back at me in my town. I always make some sort of friendly gesture to people if they make direct eye-contact with me. I am in the American South. I like it that way. I am from a small town in the Northeast, and it was rarely like that. It makes me feel that there are nice people who want to be friendly like me around. It is a nice feeling.
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In my town you can't drive down the road without someone smiling or waving at you. It is just common courtesy. So to do this to a stranger is not odd nor does one get a negative response. I like it that way. I am from the South. I guess that is what people refer to as "southern hospitality" in the United States.
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I grew up in the Northeast. If I smiled and waved at someone in my hometown, they look at me like I have three heads. None of my school friends from childhood kept in touch, and I can't get any of them to reconnect when I tracked them down on the internet. I live in the South now, where everyone waves, smiles and says hello. I love it. All my Southern high school friends stay in touch.
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I am Scottish, when home I do as you say and everyone answers likewise. I now live in a foreign country I do the same with those I know and a slight head tilt to those I don't know. Regards.
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From Texas, and yes I wave and smile at strangers, and they wave back. Some smile some don't.
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they usually wave and speak. ALABAMA. ROLL TIDE!!!
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I usually smile and say hi, and they usually do the same. I live in NY, no not the city.
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smile and wave back
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smile and wave baxk..i live in staten island, NY
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Vietnam- People are friendly and but we just say hello there Saint Kitts and Nevis- We wave and say hello and usually since alot of people know eachother we talk for a few minutes
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They smile back. I dont usually wave, but people hold doors open, and when i say thankyou they usually say a kind reply. I am in New Zealand
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I don't usually wave at people but I do smile and say hi when I pass people..they tend to smile and say hello in return. I currently reside outside of a college town in Ohio :)
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Here in my neighborhood, we pass other couples just like us taking their dogs for a walk every evening, and there are children of all ages playing games in the streets on nearly every block, except the ones who are in their back yard swimming. When we go to the mall, we can smile at people who are there and they will smile back. When I sit outside the pizza place waiting for my carryout, next to the fountain, children and their parents, young teens, and elderly folk walk by and smile and sometimes sit and talk. If I didn't know better, I'd think I live in Paradise. It's Citrus Heights California, and we do have some crime, a few incidents now and then, yes, even people who kill each other, but for the most part, it is a little slice of heaven on earth.
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Some smile and say a brief hello, and some look at me like they wished I were dead. Go figure. I'm in SoCal.
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uhh i am like this punk high schooler and people smile at me and say hi most of the time and i am in Seattle Washington in the USA
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If you choose not to wave back to someone who waves at you, that doesn't necessarily make you unfriendly, it makes you a libertarian. It is likely that the person who waves already has an expectation that you respond in a particular way, and if you don't respond in the way they expect you to then they may project on to you their disappointment at not having their expectation met. Anyone who sets up an expectation like this reveals their insecurity. The act of behaving in a particular way (in this case waving at a stranger) with the expectation of a particular response from another person is a form of passive aggression. Rare indeed is the person who understands and can accept that the behavior of another does not have to depend on their actions toward that person and so can accept without judgment the free agency of another. The way to happiness is through liberty of mind.
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They ignore most of the time. No, I don't like it that way lol. I live in NJ.
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I live in a big city in Canada so waving or saying hello isn't de rigeur here but I may smile at someone if the vibe is mutual. With that said, I've just recently vacationed at Pelee Island, Canada (Lake Erie) which has a small population of about 300. Almost everyone on the island gives a friendly wave or says hello as you pass. It was so nice! After the first few times, I let my city guard down and I started doing it myself.
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