Ask Lemmy

American here. Really it’s about context. On busses is can be polite to thank the driver when exiting. Depending on the barber saying hello to everyone might be normal too. But no I don’t think I’ve ever walked into a dentists office and been like’ hi! Everybody!” It’s more a walk in tell someone you’re here and sit on your phone until called.

I live in the UK so this would be greeted with suspicion. 😆

What do you mean by "the people there"?

The workers? Sure.
Other customers? Absolutely not.

I'm from the Caribbean. It's considered rude to enter a room without saying good morning/afternoon/night once and loudly enough that everyone can hear. No one has to answer but it's polite to acknowledge. You don't have to say anything when leaving tho.

This doesn't apply to places that are loud, large, or where people are already socialising. So no to restaurants, bars and supermarkets, etc. But yes to hairdressers, small cafés, doctor's offices, and small offices in general.

You can tell your friends if they ever got off the internet they'd find the world is not a place of homogenous societal customs.

In America, you might greet a single person that acknowledges you, like a worker, but not the general room.

This is like a small town custom where everybody knows one another. So even though it’s a new setting, it’s all mostly the same people. Not saying anything is actually perceived as rude. Lol

I wouldn’t expect this in a big city though. Especially if it’s a doctors office. Typically people there for private medical issues, not for socializing with strangers. Exception here is if I actually see someone I know.

On occasion the staff will say “hi” and “bye” on entering and leaving but that is more of a trained behavior than natural.

in finland you dont and if you do you will be likely silently judged. at most you might greet the workers but even that mostly only if they greet you first

(US) I greet the receptionist and the person I'm about to sit next but only if they make eye contact. I just give them a quick rhetorical "How's it goin?"

German here. According to my experience, on some places you're the weird one not greeting.

Doctor's waitimg room: greet and goodbye expected.

Bus: Usually you enter in front and leave in the back, so only greet the driver, usually.

Nature/dog walk: Indifferent. Usually we greet everyone we meet, due to the shared nature experience probably. And usually nobody greets back. If you make room for cyclists, nobody says thanks or even breaks a bit to give you more time to get out of their way. Last weekend, however, everybody we met greeted first, and every cyclist breaked and said thanks, which was a remarkably strange but positive experience.

Office/company grounds: I tend to greet everyone. Except for a few who regularly don't greet back. Usually at least saying "hi" once a day is expected.

What miffes me most is that most people here are reluctant to thank for services provided (cashier, doc's assistant, cleaners, security...). As if these hardest working people somehow were invisible, or machines.

Here in the US, there are a lot of regional cultures so the "rules" vary a lot from place to place. Using one of your examples, it's very common where I live to greet the driver when you get on a bus and thank them when you leave. But I've been told that would seem weird in other parts of the country.

I would never greet an entire waiting room at a doctor's office. I'd assume most of the people there are anxious and/or not feeling well and not in the mood for social interaction. Excluding organized events (conferences and meetings and the like), I can't think of any circumstance where I would say hello to an entire room of random strangers.

It tends to happen in smaller towns here in Canada, but not in bigger towns or cities. I think it's mostly a social fatigue thing. When you only meet 10 people on a day out, it's not taxing to have more of a personal encounter with them. But if you regularly see 100+ people, it would be too much to acknowledge each one socially, even just with eye contact and a group greeting. I would have drained my social battery before even making it to my first destination.

But back in a small town, I say hi to every single person I meet. Though not usually bye. I am a relatively asocial person, but I do try to at least treat people how they want to be treated. I'm autistic, so most of my social behaviour is prompted by cues, rather than being something I "feel like doing". But it also makes trends like that pretty noticeable to me. I can vaguely tell when I'm making people uncomfortable, but I usually have to guess why specifically, most people won't tell you, even if you ask. Hehe. But because of that, I over-analyze all social interactions. And I have a close group of friends that have stuck with me and help me out. It's very helpful to have feedback from their perspective. It has helped me to hone my own manufactured social skills and protocols to seem alot like a normal person most of the time. When inside I feel more like a robot programmed to resemble a human, lol.

But yeah, in Canada that resembles small town social behaviour. The rest is just guesses by me.

Do you live in a smaller community, where it's likely that you know the people there?

Germany: A quick nod (head down, not head up) or a one word greeting (morgen, servus, moin, tach) would feel appropriate. But silence usually also is fine unless you're in a really tight knit communities maybe.

If I'm noticed and notice the other person, yes.

Are you insane? Talking to the people?

I started greeting people more in the last year or so. Some people at work have started saying Good morning, etc. as well.

Most of the time in public I find that my greeting is ignored. This bothers me because I assume people are starting from a negative assumption about me: I want something from them, I need a conversation, I'm hitting on them, etc. I am not trying to do any of those things, just wishing people a good day. It seems that we as a society have allowed our fears and social awkardness to overcome being polite.

It should not be an issue for two strangers to say good morning to each other but apparently it is for most.

In rural communities in the Midwest, I find it safest to say a polite hello, target that risk rudely snubbing my best friend's uncle who hosted that terrific Fourth of July party this year.

Here in the UK it varies.

In London, even acknowledging someone's existence on the Tube would likely get you a look that would either your genitals.

Elsewhere, it be better.

In rural communities you likely know someone there anyway.

Up North people can often be friendlier than London - I've had some fun times on trains (especially packed ones - a bit of adversity can really bring people together).

See this totally serious news report that highlights regional differences.

*entering room of people waiting to donate on a sperm bank*

"Hello everybody. Hope you're all excited to be here and rearing to go!"

*sits down next to somebody*

"So, do you come here often?"

Germany/Switzerland:

You might muffle a very faint "good day" or something and that's what you might get back. But other than that, the waiting room of a doctors office might as well be a funeral. Dead silence. Well, unless there is kids. Then you might get kid noises and the parent occationally saying things to keep the kid quiet.

Same goes for public transport. Drivers usually have their own cabin on trams and I never use the front entrance of the bus. But still, no talking to strangers.

Meh not really, I don't want to have conversations with strangers but I will at least look at you and acknowledge your existence, guy nod, crack a fake smile and sit my ass down in the waiting room.

"morning/afternoon/evening".