“I love that guy,” one cyclist says to his partner as they speed past, looking back at Landis with a grin that suggests both ironic and sincere appreciation. Landis is already greeting the next person....
“When I first heard him, I thought that was so nice. Why don’t we say ‘good morning’ to people? That just seriously made my day better,” [another person] says.... “But a lot of other people I think really appreciate it,” she says. “I know I do.”
November 11, 2017
Local paper has an article about a guy who says "Good morning!" to people.
He's just a guy who runs a particular 3-mile route in Madison and calls out "Good morning!" to everyone (Isthmus).
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He'd better not say that to Hillary.
She'd reply "Fuck You !"
But, of course, she doesn't go to Wisconsin. So he is safe.
Later, they set his morning routine to music.
OMG, there are southerners in Madison. Maybe they got lost.
I think a lot of people in Madison say good morning when you pass them, walking. It seems to be the norm in places that are not crowded.
I think you pick that right up when you get here. I moved here from NYC in the 80s, and I had the NYC habit of walking by people as if they did not exist. You just know to do that in NYC. In Madison, it was obvious that you say "good morning" or "hi" or smile and nod at people.
I'm surprised to find an article about it. If there was a guy in NY that did this, maybe.
Salutations are a normal thing where I live (WI).
There's a guy I used to encounter in Providence who always rang his bike bell when he rode past. It was cheery, but occasionally distracting.
Those are the kind that end up in a tower with an automatic rifle ...
... and afterwards everyone says: "He was such a nice guy, always said 'good morning' ..."
When I'm riding my bike in the morning I always say 'good morning' to the other riders and walkers. Most people do.
Man bites dog! Around here anyway.
In Huntington, WV everyone says hello and good morning. When I visited there I thought it was some kind of plot against me.
@Matthew Sablan, I prefer this one.
Thinking further of this article, it occurs to me that maybe it's an Onion kind of satire. It seems that in most neighborhoods saying 'good morning' is the norm rather than the exception. Riding around saying 'Fuck off!' to every passerby might merit an news story--or even a neighborhood watch alert.
Liberals!
First lesson of social life is smile, stick out your hand and say, " Hi, my name is ------" They will always react to that, and then build from there. Everybody likes to be recognized ...like Cheers Bar.
" It seems to be the norm in places that are not crowded. "
It's like that in most of Tucson.
In Chicago, though, they shoot you.
Blogger mockturtle said...
"When I'm riding my bike in the morning I always say 'good morning' to the other riders and walkers. Most people do."
Same here.
"Michael K said...
" It seems to be the norm in places that are not crowded. "
It's like that in most of Tucson.
In Chicago, though, they shoot you."
Dude, you don't know Chicago very well. It's not like east coast cities...NYC, Philly, etc. The people are generally friendly.
In Ohio, “Howdy” just means “Hi”.
In Texas, it’s a question that warrants an answer.
It's Bill Dauterive, I tell you what.
I agree with Althouse, it's a flyover thing. In NYC someone could knock you down and they'll keep walking, same with Chicago during rush hour or lunch.
I once took a New Yorker hunting in western Kansas, he was shocked that every passing truck or car waved at us on country roads.
Must be from Texas.
When I was walking around Waxahachie, Texas, about 20 years ago, total strangers waved to me from cars. I found it unsettling, which unsettled me further.
Bizarre that this warrants such exposure. Lots of “hello”’s and “nice day”’s in my neck of the woods in suburban MA. Must be survivalist to limit the ackloedgement. As in, If I don’t acknowledge you there is no proof I was here, and I can’t be victimized cuz I’m not here.
We live in a large urban area. When we leave town to visit America, my better half claims that it takes a week to accept that when people say hello, good morning, thank you, etc., they are not being smart asses.
When I'm walking the trails with my dog I never say hello to runners or bikers. Some of them are already sucking wind and those that aren't soon will be. I'll do the two finger wave and generally get a head nod back.
Some years ago there was this elderly chap in North Carolina who decided to bid good morning! (or whatever) to everyone. So each morning at 6 AM and each evening at 5 PM he walked to a nearby suburban intersection, a very busy one during drive time, and greeted everyone he saw. His project drew the approving attention of local television and eventually the disapproving attention of the authorities.
The greeter sought to make eye contact with each driver who passed by his intersection, and that was the rub. Southerners generally follow the ancient Norse proverb "greet smiles with smiles" which is faultlessly polite but somewhat hazardous when a driver in a busy intersection turns his attention from driving to a loonie geezer standing on a corner. Several accidents happened with the good morning guy's involvement. The local highway patrol commander wrote the man asking that he give up his pastime, which in turn stirred a different pot — namely the case of church group known for staking out busy intersections with proselytizing sign carriers. The group had been the subject of several city council meetings. Some people resented having placards reading Hell Awaits! waved at them as they sat helplessly in idling autos. However, no proposed city ordinance could overpower the church group's First Amendment right to be obnoxious.
When the Christian sign-wavers learned about the good morning guy and the courteous request that he cease and desist his activities they flew to his defense, encouraging him to continue in spite of the letter, and in spite of the hazard his greetings created.
@reader, unless they’re wearing a Che Guevara shirt or “I’m with Her,” in which case a one fingered wave may be more appropriate.
Reminds me of the joke about the Indian immigrant in Grand Central Station: Good morning sir, can you tell me what time is is or should I go fuck myself?
Is Seattle a 'flyover' city? Having lived there most of my life, I think friendliness to passersby is common there and in the West, in general.
I'm not a morning person.
Don't say "Good morning" to me until I've had my coffee.
Hahahahaha!
I used to say "Good morning (Ohayōgozaimasu)" to everyone I passed as I walked my kids to the school bus in Tokyo. My kids called me "The Good Morning Nazi". There were some people in delivery cars and buses I waved to every single morning.
One of the great gifts in my life was when one of my good morning people - an elderly man- came up from behind us one afternoon and said it to us first.
"I think you pick that right up when you get here. I moved here from NYC in the 80s, and I had the NYC habit of walking by people as if they did not exist. You just know to do that in NYC."
Last month, I was taking a long walk on the East Side of Milwaukee and saw a family sitting on a bench outside a hospital - a mom, dad, a teen girl and a guy who looked to be in his early 20's. The young man was in a wheelchair and had an IV. It was during the playoffs, when the Yankees were playing the Astros, and all of them were wearing Yankees jerseys. It was the day after the Yankees had won against the Astros at Yankee Stadium and so I called out as I approached them, "Your team is doing well, I see!" They were visibly startled and all of them looked at me like I had fired a gun in their direction. The father said, "What?" I said "The Yankees have been playing really well. They have a good shot at beating the Astros. That must make you happy." They nodded and the dad said, in a very strong NY accent, "Yeah, we're hoping. Just gotta get one more win and they'll be in the Series." I nodded and smiled again and went on my way.
I thought afterwards that it's entirely possible I had thoughtlessly interrupted a sad moment. They were from NY and their kid was in a hospital in Milwaukee - and in a wheelchair. He might have been in a terrible accident here. So I sort of regretted saying anything. It was also clear they weren't used to strangers addressing them on the street.
Unfortunately for them, the Yankees lost the next 2 games.
I've always been philosophically opposed to that statement. (I said that to a Maths instructors four days a week for five months one year until he finally devised the rejoinder "It's a wish, not an observation".)
The staff at Wrigley Field really is very friendly. (Cubs fans act much worse at Miller Park than they do at Wrigley.) I found Chicago waiters, hotel and museum staff, store clerks, cabbies - all the people you normally interact with when you are visiting a city - to be quite cordial. I don't go into the neighborhoods where they are shooting each other. Obviously, you can't say hi to everyone you pass on Michigan Avenue, because there are too many people. You'd just be walking and saying 'hi,hi, hi,hi,hi...."
Wednesday: Good for you! Don't ever hesitate to approach strangers with a positive comment in public. If anything, you interrupted a sad moment with a bit of sunshine. I know exactly what you mean when you get those funky stares from city folks who live inside a hermetically sealed bubble while in public.
I walk through my rural mountain neighborhood every day. Whenever a car approaches, I get off the road, look at the driver, wave and smile... It's my strategy to add positivism and ensure my safety. It's such a habit, I wave, smile, say hi, nod to everyone I meet on the street. It does make some people uncomfortable, especially if their eyeballs are glued to their not-so-smart phones... it's like you have awakened them from a dream and they express shock at the real world.
Quaestor: Good point. To avoid distracting drivers with my wave and silly grin, I don't hold my gaze for longer than an instant, then I quickly look the other way and pretend to see an on-coming car barreling down in the opposite direction. This alerts the driver's spidy sense and slows them down.
I live in NYC. I see many examples of sidewalk rage. It's all those old people with their walkers holding up sidewalk traffic. Another annoying thing is those people in wheelchairs. When the bus has to stop to pick them up or let them off, it delays your trip considerably.
I was born in the midwest and grew up in the south. I moved to NYC at age 25. After having been here a few years I was visiting my folks in Florida and took a walk around the neighborhood one morning. I was startled when another pedestrian said "Good morning." I had forgotten what had once been very usual and expected.
Of course, in a crowded urban environment, people can be perfectly friendly and conversations do occur between strangers, but, really...no one has the time to say "hello" or "good morning" to everyone they pass, or to reply to others making such greetings.
I hold the door for anybody within 30 feet or so.
A little much maybe, but I’m a salesman so You know.
My sister lived in Boston for years. Once she was in a thick crowd of pedestrians in a downtown rush hour and a man stepped on her foot and then profusely apologized. Her first thought as "Is this guy trying to pick me up? Distract me while his accomplice picks my pocket? Try some other scam?" Her second thought was "Wait a minute: I'm on a business trip. This is Salt Lake City, not Boston. He's just being polite."
Same exact thing Reader!
Just in case anybody is confused on general courtesy and pleasantness is.
Re: "It's a wish, not an observation":
I think it was Paul Fussell who suggested that the proper reply to "Have a nice day" is "Thank you, but I have other plans".
(Yes, I know that "Have a nice day" is not the same thing as "Good morning" and that the word "nice" rubs a lot more people the wrong way than "good" does.)
Ya know I get the multitudes passing by thing. Glad that ain’t like that here in Atlanta.
Which ain’t exactly Woodbury. TWD reference there.
(Yes, I know that "Have a nice day" is not the same thing as "Good morning" and that the word "nice" rubs a lot more people the wrong way than "good" does.)
Sometimes the checker or whoever, will say, "Have a good one!", whereupon I turn and ask, "A good what?".
Good Afternoon!
Yes, the "thank you, but I have other plans" get a lot of play in the rotation, but if you're in a place where you want to keep it lighter, another possible rejoinder is "Welllll, okay, but only because you asked nicely...". And of course, the inevitable "Meh, too late."
When I am out walking in my neighborhood, I also smile and greet others I encounter. The vast majority of them respond, some rather tepidly, but they at least acknowledge me in some fashion. There is one couple that completely ignores me. No eye contact, no slight o mouths in a semblance of a smile, nothing. My husband and I have lived here for over 15 years, and this couple was already here. I find it bizarre that, after all of these years, that these people still act as if I don't exist. Thankfully, they are a tiny minority of my neighbors.
In Chicago most people are polite. There are times when there are just too many people and you don't say anything. Most of the time people will respond just fine.
I am from the west and greeted, maintained eye contact, etc. It passed as politeness; it actually was polite. But on the Metro in Washington DC I learned another way. To meet the gaze of some of your fellow riders is to trigger a flood of spit-flecked lunacy. It seemed as if the moment of polite connection triggered an intense need, desperate need, to be heard and recognized - to have a real connection. Well, shee_it, I got it in one: eyes slightly averted without losing awareness, rebuff any attempt at conversation, suspect all of being harmlessly crazed and some of being non-harmlessly-crazed. I have exchanged politeness for aversive wariness.
Another thing you get from those eastern-city encounters is there are 2 kinds of people.
1) vanishingly rare: those who recognize/practice reading as an activity; and
2) those who don't. "I see your head in that book, and since you not doing nothing, I think to...."
A satisfying reply from the reader is "Madame, I hold converse with the honored dead, and must therefore decline to talk with you." If you want to make it more pointed, "...with one of a legion of honored dead white males...." But while this is satisfying to say, it just draws blank looks of the I-don'-see-no-dead-guys" variety.
The late humorist Florence King said that when she moved to NYC from the South, she found herself in trouble because she would make eye contact and smile at people on the subway. She said she became the sweetheart of every kook on the train. She learned that no matter what is going on on the train - a guy screaming about Martins, a woman going into labor in the aisle - you keep your eyes on your newspaper or book or you look out the window at nothing. You do not make eye contact and smile.
Simon, once I was riding a packed Metro train during rush hour. I was jammed in with lots of other people, hanging on to a strap - and someone farted. And it was a godawful fart from hell. It was like a stink bomb went off in the car. I was standing there gagging and I looked around at all the professionals in their suits, standing there with their eyes down and pursed lips, looking like they all just ate a teaspoon of poop. But nobody said anything until a young black guy yelled out "Jeeeeeesus Christ, who cut that one? What the fuck did you eat for breakfast, a fucking skunk?" Then everyone burst out laughing.
It was funny, but man, it was bad. I was so happy to get off the train at Metro Center.
Great story, exiled! :-D
Funny - I interpret and say "nice day" to mean, "Its a nice day!", when the weather warrants it, not "Have a nice day!". Go figure.
In Chicago most people are polite. There are times when there are just too many people and you don't say anything. Most of the time people will respond just fine.
Take a walk at 71st and Jeffrey. The herd gets thinned out most days.
I grew up there in the 40s and 50s. I won't even drive through today.
"Dude, you don't know Chicago very well. It's not like east coast cities."
Dude, I grew up there and lived there until I was 18.
I go back every year and have lots of family there. I don't think you know it very well.
I've been trying to convince my sister to move but her kids and grandkids are there.
Is Seattle a 'flyover' city? Having lived there most of my life, I think friendliness to passersby is common there and in the West, in general.
You must live in a different part of Seattle than I'm familiar with.
The Seattle Freeze is well-known.
Jim, it is true that I lived in the suburbs rather than downtown Seattle. And, as someone else wrote about public transit, when I was back at UW in the 80's and had to take public transportation [no student parking] I found that my riding companions to be largely mentally ill folk. Listening to them often proved interesting, however. I remember hearing one vivid comment: "I was so light-headed I was flying around the room".
No, the friendly greetings were in my own neighborhood.
I say good morning to everyone at work...even he kids. ( I teach high school) A couple of years ago I started saying happy Monday, happy Tuesday etc as well. Now almost everyone in the office says happy Friday to each other.
I'm NYC born and bred; and although our alleged unfriendliness is often exaggerated by the yokels, it is true that when I'm greeted by a cheery "Good morning!" my first instinct is to reply, "Drop dead, smiley!"
But I'm working on it.
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