Context: I work at Walmart and have dozens of coworkers, many of whom aren’t on my team.
I’ve been known for being very standoffish and quiet at work in many of the jobs that I’ve been in. But whenever I try to socialize, my conversations seem contrived and it seems like I’m just making small talk for the sake of making small talk. I may have autism, or I may just be socially awkward and have a hard time with social skills.
Something that has been bothering me lately is understanding how to greet acquaintances, strangers, and work “friends” at work and how often to small talk throughout the day. I will list some of the possible ways to greet people (and ignore people) below, all of which I’ve done before (Also, right now my default is to just ignore people…..yeah)
1. **Hello/How are you?/I’m fine, thanks**
2. **Eye contact and smile**
3. **Eye contact and nod**
4. **Eye contact and resting bitch face**
5. **Notice person possibly making eye contact and ignore**
6. **Ignore**
When is it appropriate to use any of these options? Should you properly greet every person you’re acquainted with? What about for people you’re not acquainted with?
How often should you make eye contact and make small talk throughout the day when passing each other in the hallway?
Is it okay to greet someone once and ignore them for the rest of the day? Is it rude to not acknowledge someone at all, even for the whole day?
I should say that I’ve been guilty of doing number 6, 5, and 4 quite a lot. Sometimes I really just don’t care about greeting the other person. Like, I don’t have any interest in talking to them. But I fear that people might interpret this as not liking them or being cold and unapproachable. I’m curious to know what you all think, and maybe you can share your experiences and what has worked for you.
1 comment
Here’s my advice, greet everyone regardless of relationship. This is going to build up your confidence in greetings but also talking to people in general. It seems to me you have a fear of greeting people given that you listed out and theorized about different greetings instead of just greeting people. The reality is greeting someone is so low stakes you should greet every single person you see, in work and on the street, this will build a sense of community in yourself aswell when you get greeted by others back.