Do you acknowledge ?

[The emperor has no clothes]

Working in a grocery store I greet a lot of people everyday. I’ve always wondered why some won’t acknowledge the greeting. I’d guess maybe 10% of people will just ignore it. I’ve never really understood why. Granted some are old and hard of hearing. Usually though that’s not the case. It will be the person just looks you in the eye and ignores the greeter. Don’t get me wrong, when I go to a store I don’t want salesmen to pester me. What I’m talking about is a simple “hi”, “hello”, or “I’m fine thanks”.
  If you don’t return greetings, I’m curious why ? No judgements. I’m going to keep greeting and returning them regardless. It’s just the way I was raised.

[Serk]

If I hear/see someone greeting me, I'll respond with a hearty "Howdy!" every time..... (Unless I'm eating/drinking, then I'll at least wave back)

[t-man403]

If I hear/see someone greeting me, I'll respond with a hearty "Howdy!" every time..... (Unless I'm eating/drinking, then I'll at least wave back)

Ditto!! 

[scooperhsd]

Most of the time , I do acknowledge. There are times when I'm not in the mode, or have more important things on my mind, etc.

[Jess from VA]

I'll return almost any greeting  

Maybe not hey asshole, but probably.... whatayaknow dickweed?.  

Given the costs at the meat counter (holy sh!t it's just hamburger, let alone a pack of 4 steaks for $50), did you ever think they might just be taking out their unhappiness on you?

I never had the opportunity to go to an IRS counter, but even if he was a nice fellow, I'm not likely to be friendly, at all.

Down at the local busy DMV, almost no one's happy; the customers or the staff.

Otherwise, it is probably just a sign of the ever expanding societal preoccupation with self over all else.

And while we're on the subject, are butchers everywhere leaving more fat and gristle on the product than they used to?      

[Big Rig]

work in sales now...always make contact and say hello to almost everyone that looks my way...

I will say that if I dont do it, it is not deliberate...most times it is trying to remember why I am there in the first place...

[The emperor has no clothes]

work in sales now...always make contact and say hello to almost everyone that looks my way...

I will say that if I dont do it, it is not deliberate...most times it is trying to remember why I am there in the first place...

 

I'll return almost any greeting 

Maybe not hey asshole, but probably.... whatayaknow dickweed?.   

Given the costs at the meat counter (holy sh!t it's just hamburger, let alone a pack of 4 steaks for $50), did you ever think they might just be taking out their unhappiness on you?

I never had the opportunity to go to an IRS counter, but even if he was a nice fellow, I'm not likely to be friendly, at all.

Down at the local busy DMV, almost no one's happy; the customers or the staff.

Otherwise, it is probably just a sign of the ever expanding societal preoccupation with self over all else.

And while we're on the subject, are butchers everywhere leaving more fat and gristle on the product than they used to?     

Oh believe me, I get plenty of grieve over pricing, limits, etc. These are usually anywhere in the store though.

[Serk]

...wonder if part of the difference is people who've done their time in retail/food service vs. those who never spent time on the other side of the counter.

When you see someone blowing up at the high school kid behind the counter because their Twinkies rang up at $1.19 when the sign clearly said $1.17 you can quickly tell that person never did their time in retail...

[3fan4life]

I will usually return the greeting of someone in the store or at least acknowledge it.

I'm much more curt if it's obvious that the person is trying to sell me something rather than just being polite.

As an example, I really don't like car salesmen.

I just went through the process of buying a new car (unplanned) and looked around at just about everything that fit in the category of the type of vehicle that I was looking for.

I finally got to the point that I was ignoring many of salesmen's greetings, especially if I had already disqualified the vehicle that I stopped to look at.

I explained to one particular salesman that it wasn't him, it was just that I absolutely hate buying a car.

For some reason i don't have that problem when it comes to buying motorcycles. 

[Gryphon Rider]

I try to make a point of treating people who serve me as if they're real human beings.  At the drive-through where I get my coffee most mornings I know the first names of the ones who serve me most often, even the ones hard to remember because they're not common English names.  As a result, they are pretty convincing that they're actually happy to serve me. 

[Dave Ritsema]

...wonder if part of the difference is people who've done their time in retail/food service vs. those who never spent time on the other side of the counter.

When you see someone blowing up at the high school kid behind the counter because their Twinkies rang up at $1.19 when the sign clearly said $1.17 you can quickly tell that person never did their time in retail...

I have often times thought the very same thing. I have also at times tried to diffuse a situation where someone is being a real jerk to some poor person that had nothing to do regarding causing the persons problem and is getting reamed for it. I was in Phoenix the week before last and some arrogant jerk was yelling at the guy out in the parking lot that hands you the rental car keys that he had reserved a luxury car and the piece of crap 2019 Camaro was not acceptable, he wanted a BMW.

The young man was trying really hard to please the guy and offered up several different models and none of them met his high standards and he kept getting louder and louder and was holding up the process for everyone. I nicely said to him that if their cars weren't good enough for him I was sure that the company would be happy if he would go act like an asshole at one if their competitors instead. He stomped off and several people clapped. I was next in line and the young man thanked me, gave me a 2 level upgrade for free AND told me not to bother filling the tank when I returned it. The truck was a 2019 Dodge Ram Quad Cab Hemi and that was likely worth $50 in fuel alone. I really hate watching someone berating someone else just because they think they can.

[scooperhsd]

...wonder if part of the difference is people who've done their time in retail/food service vs. those who never spent time on the other side of the counter.

When you see someone blowing up at the high school kid behind the counter because their Twinkies rang up at $1.19 when the sign clearly said $1.17 you can quickly tell that person never did their time in retail...

I have often times thought the very same thing. I have also at times tried to diffuse a situation where someone is being a real jerk to some poor person that had nothing to do regarding causing the persons problem and is getting reamed for it. I was in Phoenix the week before last and some arrogant jerk was yelling at the guy out in the parking lot that hands you the rental car keys that he had reserved a luxury car and the piece of crap 2019 Camaro was not acceptable, he wanted a BMW.

The young man was trying really hard to please the guy and offered up several different models and none of them met his high standards and he kept getting louder and louder and was holding up the process for everyone. I nicely said to him that if their cars weren't good enough for him I was sure that the company would be happy if he would go act like an asshole at one if their competitors instead. He stomped off and several people clapped. I was next in line and the young man thanked me, gave me a 2 level upgrade for free AND told me not to bother filling the tank when I returned it. The truck was a 2019 Dodge Ram Quad Cab Hemi and that was likely worth $50 in fuel alone. I really hate watching someone berating someone else just because they think they can.

Amazing what a little kindness will buy you sometimes. (Thumbs up)

[RP#62]

Like Serk, I will usually respond with a hearty howdy.  My wife seldom does.  I asked her about it once and she said when she's out and about she's usually on a mission and is not out to make new friends.

-RP

[The emperor has no clothes]

I try to make a point of treating people who serve me as if they're real human beings.  At the drive-through where I get my coffee most mornings I know the first names of the ones who serve me most often, even the ones hard to remember because they're not common English names.  As a result, they are pretty convincing that they're actually happy to serve me. 

  I imagine they aren’t putting on a show. I truly enjoy many of my customers. I’ve been rude to so many times in the last 5 decades of working in a store, I just shake it off now. It’s hard to get some of the younger workers that some people are just miserable and want others to be miserable also. Some people get really hurt feelings about it. I’ve been cursed at, called names, etc. I do draw the line with men cursing and trying to intimidate the women I work with. They are promptly escorted out.

[Willow]

Working in a grocery store I greet a lot of people everyday. I’ve always wondered why some won’t acknowledge the greeting. I’d guess maybe 10% of people will just ignore it. ...
  If you don’t return greetings, I’m curious why ?...

10% seems a little high but maybe they're New Yorkers.

Honestly, the cultures in different parts of the country have differing expectations in the greeting of strangers.  

[Oss]

always return greetings and always say good morning to people I meet especially in court or at the deli or a restaurant the library, my synagogue whatever. It is how I was raised.

When I walk into the courtroom I always say good morning (or afternoon) to the Clerk of the Part, the Court officer, the law attorney for the Judge and the Judge

The other day I walked into a packed courtroom and the judge said good morning to me before I could do so. I said hi Judge ___ , checked in with the clerk and then went back out.

I was followed by a man who stopped me in the hallway
"Are you a lawyer?" he asked
"Yes" said I
"Can you be my lawyer, I am a Landlord and have a case against my tenant"
"Sure but why me"
Because the Judge thinks enough of you that she said hello to you and nobody else

I won his case and he has referred me several clients  It is always good to treat even your adversary with respect. Dont kiss ass but be respectful, and firm in your position you get what you need.

I also wave at motorcycles

[da prez]

  I will always acknowledge and treat people with respect. If it turns against me , then I will attack if necessary.
  What R E A L  Y will set me off is when I am with my wife or another woman and the greeter or waitperson says "Hi guys". All bets are off. I have asked the following questions!
 Do you stand up to pee?  or She has breasts!  or I use to date guys but they were a pain in the ass.
 I have many more responses. I just do not like my wife being referred to in the masculine gender.

                                  da prez

                                     

[hubcapsc]

Working in a grocery store I greet a lot of people everyday. I’ve always wondered why some won’t acknowledge the greeting. I’d guess maybe 10% of people will just ignore it. ...
  If you don’t return greetings, I’m curious why ?...

10% seems a little high but maybe they're New Yorkers.

Honestly, the cultures in different parts of the country have differing expectations in the greeting of strangers.  

I remember talking to the people on the subway between Maryland/DC ... it seemed
like they all wanted to hide under the seat. As I remember I was remarking on how
every inch of stuff you could see out the window was covered with unintelligible
gang style graffiti...

-Mike

[recman25]

  As a NJ native, I will greet most people with " How ya doin" just out of a reflex action. Now that I live i  Arizona, I find it hilarious that sometimes people will actually start telling me how theyre doing.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Working in a grocery store I greet a lot of people everyday. I’ve always wondered why some won’t acknowledge the greeting. I’d guess maybe 10% of people will just ignore it. ...
  If you don’t return greetings, I’m curious why ?...

10% seems a little high but maybe they're New Yorkers.

Honestly, the cultures in different parts of the country have differing expectations in the greeting of strangers.  

My 10% figure was just pulled out of the air. It could very well be less. As to NY'ers, I was very pleasantly surprised at the helpfulness of people on the subway and walking around the city. Even in some pretty rough looking parts of Brooklyn. Maybe because I'd been hearing stories my entire life how they were rude.

[Moonshot_1]

The point of the discussion is having a customer entering a business acknowledging a greeting or not.

On that point...

I was  in the retail end of our store for 25 years. In the meat dept too!

Most customers who come into a store are on a mission. Most will acknowledge you. Some, by the time they get to you are just numb to it because they have been greeted by most of the employees they have passed by before they get to you. Unless it is a customer that knows you "personally".

Some are just focused on their mission.

And some are just plain jerks. But those are few.

Most aren't being rude, they are just in their own universe and you aren't in it at the moment.

At some point we all do this. We don't realize it, but we do.

Meathead, I'll bet when your Fatgirl ain't running quite right you do alot less acknowledging. Your mind is elsewhere for a moment and folks wonder why you didn't say "hi".

Happens to me too.

Wouldn't sweat it.

[MarkT]

I learned long ago to be nice especially to folks you want to serve you.  EG, don't piss off your doctor,  you banker, your food handlers or get this - the guy making your custom bike accessory.  If you figure "the squeeky wheel gets the grease" he also gets lugies in his food or banking errors in the bank's favor - or at least doesn't get the extras free.  Folks doing things for you nearly always have to make choices on your behalf.  If it's all the same to me, the nice guy gets the best chrome; asshole - I'm not making choices in his favor.

[Hook#3287]

When I worked in a grocery store, I learned that not everyone wants to be friendly.

When I worked in a restaurant, I learned you should always be pleasant to people that make your food or drink.

Most grocery store workers around here are to busy to be "overly" friendly, but when it happens, I always return a greeting.

When I'm in the big box home improvement store trying to remember the items on my list I left at home, it can be annoying that every employee has to say hello to me.

What Willow said is truth.  Two people passing on the sidewalk in the NE will ignore each other.

Down south, they stop to shake hands.

[Hook#3287]

As to NY'ers, I was very pleasantly surprised at the helpfulness of people on the subway and walking around the city. Even in some pretty rough looking parts of Brooklyn. Maybe because I'd been hearing stories my entire life how they were rude.

Not that I've much experience walking around NYC, only done it 4 times in my life, but the last time was in Feb right after 9/11.

I noticed (pleasantly surprised) a huge difference in the attitudes of people on the street.

[3fan4life]

Working in a grocery store I greet a lot of people everyday. I’ve always wondered why some won’t acknowledge the greeting. I’d guess maybe 10% of people will just ignore it. ...
  If you don’t return greetings, I’m curious why ?...

10% seems a little high but maybe they're New Yorkers.

Honestly, the cultures in different parts of the country have differing expectations in the greeting of strangers.  

I"ve found that most places people respond well to you being friendly towards them.

Except in and around Boston, there if you walk into a store and are friendly with the clerk, they look at you like you have two heads.

[0leman]

when I started working for the Gov as a forester, I worked for BIA.  This is not a public service agency.  I worked in a very remote part of the Reservation in AZ along the Salt River Canyon.   I would see maybe one other vehicle per day.   Due to logging 20 years before, there were a lot of roads that didn't show up on any maps (this was long before google maps).  Every so often I would be stopped when in my vehicle and asked directions.  When they asked me for help and were asking nicely, not demanding help, I would help them.  In one case, one of the lost soles acted like a a@hold, I told him how to get out of the area, but failed to mention several roads that he should not take.   On another occasion, a guy pull up and asked "where in the hell am I", I asked him "where in the hell do you want to be".  After both of us laughing a bit.  I told him how to get out of the area and lent him 5 gallons of gas as he was running low and would run out before he got to nearest station (I normally carried 10 extra gallons as sometime ended up on fires for several days).   He stopped at the gas station that I traded with an left money for the 5 gallons.   It pays to be nice to folks who can help you and folks in general.

[..]

Exiting a convenience store today.

A woman of a certain age approaching head down riffling through her purse.

She stops about 4 steps away still riffling.

I say I will stop holding very soon.

She looks up at me and then head down starts riffling again.

As she steps forward I let the door go.

 

[Jess from VA]

That's gonna cut down on tips.   

[98valk]

u think maybe the meat cleaver in your hand and the Hollywood Meat Cleaver Massacre – USA, 1976 movie poster on the wall behind you has anything to do with the non-response?   

[¿spoom]

u think maybe the meat cleaver in your hand and the Hollywood Meat Cleaver Massacre – USA, 1976 movie poster on the wall behind you has anything to do with the non-response?  

I was wondering that myself, last time I greeted someone with blood on my jacket and a meat cleaver in my hand, they offered me a wallet and expensive watch. Can't get a much nicer response than that.