Who do you say Good Morning to?

I say good morning/thanks to the bus driver without fail every morning. After that it depends entirely on my mood. I frequently don’t even say hello to my colleagues, and there are only five of us in the office.

But some days I say hello to lots of strangers

I’m a woman. I am fickle.

Posted about 1 year ago by Tallulahlula

I say good morning to the Lollipop Man who patrols the crossing outside my local.

And some of the regulars who are waiting for the bus that goes up the hill to the tube station, which sometimes I take and sometimes I don’t, and the regs are always perplexed as to my seemingly random bus usage.

Posted about 1 year ago by iSleepDiagonal

Is it really “nice” to say “good morning” to a complete stranger? What’s the point? Yes, hold doors open and say thank you if someone does something for you and so on, but just blurting out “good morning” every so often seems pointless.

Perhaps I’m just a black-hearted curmedgeon.

Posted about 1 year ago by SuckMonster

Your local? The pub has a lollipop man? Brilliant.

I say morning to old people – they are always more friendly in the mornings.

Posted about 1 year ago by PrincessBride tipped with 1K

Yep, sadly the pub’s shut when he’s patrolling in the morning and only the really serious drinkers are in the boozer when he does his afternoon shift.

Posted about 1 year ago by iSleepDiagonal

I say good morning to fellow dog walkers on Richmond Park. It’s a practice that doesn’t seemed to be widely observed in the afternoons, strangely. (I don’t mean saying ‘good morning’ in the afternoons. That would be silly. I mean any form of informal greeting.)

However, there does seem to be some sort of hierarchy at work amongst dog walkers, based on the size and number of dogs being walked. Owners of sweet or cuddly dogs and puppies will smile a charming ‘good morning’, whilst the owners of large, boisterous dogs – especially matching pairs – will bellow MORNING! as though it were some some sort of command.

The snooty rock bitch from the top of Richmond Hill with her supercilious Afghans doesn’t bother to say anything.

Posted about 1 year ago by BraveNewMalden

Suckmonster, you are indeed a black hearted curmudgeon. Saying good morning to people restores one’s faith in humanity. Indeed, for those of us who work from home and don’t have real people in an actual workplace to talk to all day, getting greetings from people by the corner shop or at the bus stop can be tear inducingly nice, sometimes.

Posted about 1 year ago by stella tipped with 1K

But what’s the point? I’m, believe it or not, quite mannerly and say thank you, please, excuse me and so on, a lot, but I don’t see the sense in saying to a complete stranger, “good morning”. For one thing that would mean actually making eye contact with a stranger. And THAT IS NOT ON.

Posted about 1 year ago by SuckMonster

Sociopath.

Posted about 1 year ago by stella tipped with 1K

Do you really want every other stranger you pass smiling at you and saying “good morning”? Fuck that, it would do my head in.

Posted about 1 year ago by SuckMonster

I finally broke the cashier in the local corner shop two weeks ago after a three month low-grade war of attrition. He has consistently refused to respond to my cheerful greetings, leaving front of house activities to his more ebullient colleague. Over the last fortnight, however, he greeted me with enthusiastic hellos and a beaming smile.

Frankly, I am finding this incredibly unnerving. I now shop at an alternative purveyor of tinned condiments and over ripe vegetables in a bid to avoid this wierdo.

mourns the loss of personal space

personal space

Posted about 1 year ago by UncleGeorge tipped with 2K

A ‘good morning’ from a stranger can be a wonderful thing. I tend keep mine for the people I inadvertently make eye contact with. And when I’m feeling particularly froggy, there’s no telling who’s in for some savannahwellwishing.

A small act of friendliness in a harsh and bitter world lifts your spirits. And if saying good morning back is too much for you, a slight smile and polite nod of acknowledgment is nice response.

Posted about 1 year ago by savannah

Crikey. What does “feeling froggy” involve?

Posted about 1 year ago by iSleepDiagonal

Froggy: boisterous, bouncy, happy (and ever so slightly cheeky) ;)

be at one with your frog

Posted about 1 year ago by savannah

I thought she meant in a French frame of mind.

zut alors Zoot Allures bit racist probably

Posted about 1 year ago by SuckMonster

I was thinking it might be about doing that thing with your tongue.

Posted about 1 year ago by iSleepDiagonal

My dictionary defines it as being of or like a frog or abounding in frogs.

contemplates how Savannah could come to have such a surfeit of frogs

Posted about 1 year ago by SuckMonster

“Froggy” is our new favourite adjective.

froggy

Posted about 1 year ago by Londonist

Do you really want every other stranger you pass smiling at you and saying “good morning”? Fuck that, it would do my head in.

I used to think that. Especially as my mother used to say good morning to everyone and as a teenager I wanted to run away when she did it. Then again, she did come from a small town outside Glasgow where it was normal to use the word “hen” as a term of endearment to total strangers (as in, “you alright, hen” when giving you change in shops).

Worryingly, I now smile at total strangers on the tube. I think “why are you smiling at me?” And I realise I’ve just become my mother and been smilingly strangely to everyone around me.

Posted about 1 year ago by ellie