^^your story reminded me that I had developed a theory on the hello/being friendly thing...

When I used to be a busdriver (was supposed to be a stepping stone to driving a paramedics ambulance but didnt quite work out and ended up enoying it) I noted the hello/smily issue quite often... But afyer pondering over it for weeks (maybe months as you do have plenty time to think through things thoroughly) and abserving that there existed super grumpy driversat the depot and also super grumpy passengers out on the road...

The theory was (or do they call this a hypothesis or maybe a question to the problem ): What came first, the grumpy driver or the grumpy passenger.

My conclusion: grumpy passengers eventually pushed happy drivers to the brink and made them miserable... but at the same time grumpy drivers must have caused same thing on passengers... kindof like the chicken or the egg coming first... can't anser it.

So I decided that whatever the answer to the above I wasnt gonna allow it to work on me. So I merrily continued smiling and being happy and greeting everyone with the same brush. Hopefully reversing sime of the grumpiness my fellow grumpy drivers had unleashed.

Moral of the story... Just keep smiling and spearing the cheeriness and dont let the grumpy gits bother you... Also what Slarge said above-you never know whats going on in peoples lives- is so important to remember.. Who Knows!

BTW.... Hello

I'll say hello to anyone and if I get a greeting back then that's a bonus but if not then I'll think miserable git (rambler thinking I shouldn't have access rights), bike snob ( looks at your bike first and of its not the latest, cost a fortune, replace yearly cos "hey, that ain't hip, rad, sic no more ), one is up oneself ( toffy nosed gits who look down on everyone) depending on how my stereotyping is working that day.
In days of yore I was a motorcyclist and everybody waved at everybody else. That's because we identified with others who were also bikers. In those days not many folk could afford a car and a bike so your bike was your commute vehicle as well as your weekend fun which you rode every day of the week in all seasons. This brought people together even when they didn't know each other.
I gave up motorcycles ten years ago but rarely waved at people in the ten years before that unless I was going to a rally. The reason being that other bikers stopped waving back making me feel like a twit.
A lot of bikers don't relate to other bikers these days, not all, but quite a few.

voodoo_simon wrote:Does anyone say hello anymore?

Not sure why it bothers me so much but why don’t people return a cheery hello?

Out on Moel Famau on Saturday, started away from the tourists paths and didn’t see anyone for an hour or so. Went in to the main paths and all the walkers I then came across returned a hello. Once over the top and down the other side, some mountain bikers went out of their way to blank me. Seriously, we were the only ones in that side of the hill and one guy even turned his back not to say hello. Very odd!

Out on the mountain bike today and 2/3 of riders went past without returning a hello

Seems to me if you’re not on the same type of bike, or even the same mode of transport, you’re invisible.

Hey ho...

You're not the only one. I do enjoy a hello to fellow cyclists / walkers etc...and I usually get a nothing back. Worst was over the other side of snakes pass. So many people just ignored me recently.

Still, don't stop saying hello, the person who doesn't respond should feel worse than you!

People here are generally very friendly and will simply stop their cars, pick-ups, tractors and diggers in the middle of the road for a chat. Anyone who doesn't follow this pattern of behaviour tends to stand out ..... I mentioned a woman in the post office today who never lets on when I wave. "Ah yes, that'll be mad Marion" I was told. "Neither her or her husband speaks to anyone and be careful because they like to report people to the police for no reason".

As luck would have it, after leaving the post office, I took the dogs for a walk in Hafren and who should I spot but Marion. I slowed right down, lowered the window and gave her a big HELLO backed up with the cheeriest of waves ... f*ck all in return. I shall make a point of shouting louder next time as I'd love to be the first man ever reported to the law for saying hello and waving

Cracking story that Stu! Of course the next stage is stalking the woman - leap out from behind random trees etc at regular intervals with a 'HELLLLLLOOOOOO!!'. Or somewhere really obscure such as be sitting in her outside privvy when she opens the door, giving her a friendly wave with the bog roll etc etc.

Yeah say hello to everyone I reckon, and give 'em piercing eye contact into the bargain.

I like the Bill Bryson anecdote - when he moved to Yorkshire he knew he'd finally been accepted by the locals the first time he received a Yorkshire Friendly Greeting (the 'Malhamdale Wave' to be precise) from a farmer driving towards him on a country lane. As the farmer passed by, without making any change of facial expression whatsoever or any other movement, he simply raised one finger slightly off the steering wheel then lowered it again. That was it. The highest compliment had been given . It was probably Bob W .

Not me Reg., I'm only here to keep an eye on the border in case any of these Yorkshire buggers decide to make a break for it. Can't wait for the wall to be built

I believe Bryson referred to it as "The Malham Wave". In Cumbria it's a similarly imperceptible sideways nod of the head. Either that or a high six

As Stu notes country communities tend to be quite chatty, people just tend to have time for each other and there's less of the "I've got to get to ...", similar to the Spanish "mañana"

Oops sorry for the insult there Bob, I've just gone and inadvertently re-ignited the Wars Of The Roses now!

(Malham Wave - that was it ta. I edited my post while you were submitting yours)

((just got a 'bad gateway' - blinkin' forum's falling apart at the seams....)

Hi

ianfitz wrote:I do. Lots of people seem to take themselves seriously though.

It’s just people init. Some of them are sound. Some of them are wankers.

Some are, but I find it's more a regional thing.

Bearbonesnorm wrote:I'm sure region does play a part but I also think there's perhaps a change in society, which may also mean that saying hello to strangers is now an age thing.

Again, were we live kids still greet just as their parents, grans do.

The less anonymous inhabitants go about in a region are the more they greet each other. Also there are some key ways of greeting in various places, which make quite the difference in interaction.

Civilisation doesn't mean more civilised behaviour, if you see greeting as a part of it. It's rare that I greet in cities (eg Bern, Thun) but when I get a look I feel happy to nod or so and mostly get it back. Very, very different at home. It's strange if you don't greet here.

Bye

Pretty much always "Morning madam/sir/kids/little dog/Mr magpie/horsey/sunrise/whatever !"

If they don't react appropriately, then they're the one with a problem.

Being out and about on a bike is such a joyous thing (despite the best efforts of the weather/terrain) you need to have something missing inside, to be grumpy

belugabob wrote:Pretty much always "Morning madam/sir/kids/little dog/Mr magpie

And do you salute the latter?

belugabob wrote:Being out and about on a bike is such a joyous thing (despite the best efforts of the weather/terrain) you need to have something missing inside, to be grumpy

You have to wonder what they’re like in the work environment if they’re grumpy on their day off

I do find the early morning dog walkers way grumpier and less likely to return a greeting than the evening ones.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: I took the dogs for a walk in Hafren and who should I spot but Marion. I slowed right down, lowered the window and gave her a big HELLO backed up with the cheeriest of waves ... f*ck all in return. I shall make a point of shouting louder next time

There's a bloke like this, old fella in his 60s I reckon who rides a bike and I often see going the other way. I normally smile/wave/nod or something on my bike to other cyclists on my commute - but this one just blanks me, so I gradually upped the hello's and waves. It's now got to full on no handed mega wave and a cheery hello in the mornings - I think one day I managed to get eye contact with him

belugabob wrote:
Pretty much always "Morning madam/sir/kids/little dog/Mr magpie

And do you salute the latter?

Of course, unless I'm pulling a super-rad manoeuvre that requires both hands on the bars

have same on mine zippy and used to do the same

However in winter on a two wide bike lane, he approaching me, he uses about four lights and you cannot see anything but his lights - its tarmac FFS it barely needs illuminating

One day I may have turned up with all of my lights and given him 10,000 lumens to his face after weeks of asking him to dip/use less - he was forced to stop though and i explained how he made me do this every time we met - he still uses all the lights.

There is no eye contact between us