You say hello, but I say...

Well, actually, it should be: "I say hello, but you say nothing." In all my years living on the East Coast, I still haven't gotten used to the lack of salutations neighbors or coworkers or fill in the blanks share with one another. For the most part, people are fairly friendly and say hi, or hey or, my favorite, the nod of acknowledgment. But haven't we all encountered the one or two steely-faced acquaintances who never smile in recognition or wave a hello?

V and I were at the playground today, when she whispered to me: "See that woman over there with the glasses?" I looked in the direction she was pointing and saw a familiar-looking woman moderating some nasty argument her son was having with another boy. "Her kid is in my son's class, and she hasn't once even said hello to me. After all the class parties and field trips we've gone to together, she won't even pretend she knows me."

I have my own list of non-hi-sayers. That couple with a kid in my Loo's class. Nary a smile or a how-do-you-do. When Mr. pulled up a seat next to me at some school function, you'd think I was invisible. I wanted to shout to him: "Hey, I handed $20 to you for our children's teacher's holiday gift. Don't you remember?"

Not that I want to be this dude's friend, or his equally charming wife's book club member. It just seems so uncivil to not greet a face that you are accustomed to seeing on a regular basis.

Now back where I'm from, in the great Midwest, people always say hi to you. They see you once, then the hellos are constantly flowing. Some, like my mom, God bless her, take hellos to a stratospheric level. After pleasantries are exchanged with the cashier at the grocery store, my mom will go on and on about the tomatoes she bought, which weren't the ones on this week's produce coupon, but looked redder and...or she'll tell some complete stranger at the library about which magazine subscriptions she doesn't plan to renew.

So I understand New Yorkers are very busy, important people with very ambitious, creative thoughts in their heads and really don't want to get involved in conversations about coupons and produce (unless it's organic, natch), but c'mon! Say hi!