Greetings.
When is greeting another person appropiate or
the right thing to do? To greet a person is to
acknowledge not only his existene but his
presence in your and his shared space.
Although a person can greet another person
with the written word, by phone and using social
media, here the focus is on greeting in close
proximity, face-to-face such as when meeting
a person walking on the sidewalk.

"To greet or not to greet" is more subjective
than objecive. Greeting another person is an
acknowledgment of being connected, being
friendly, even if not a friend.

In the hamlet where I grew-up it was normal
and expected that two persons meeting each
other would exchange greetings.  I have
continued this practice.

These are rules that govern my extending or
not extending greetings. I greet a person when
I am within a few feet of him if he appears to
be lookig at me. Usually I greet a person before
he greets me. If I greet a person one, two,
maybe on three occasions and he refuses to
return my greeting I will not greet him again
unless he initiates the greeting. If a person
turns his head away from me or ignores me
when I am near him I will not greet that person.

These are my typical greetings: "Hello."
"How are you?" "Hi." "Good morning."
"Good afternoon." "Good evening."
"Greetings." "Namaste." 'My greetings are
accompanied with a smile and sometimes
with a handshake or hug. But a smile without
a verbal greetings just won't do.

Whenever I greet more than one person
presence at the same time I ask "How is
everybody?" Whenever I know the person's
name I will call him by his name, such as
"Hello John," or  "How  are  you  doing
John?" Whenever a person greets me
first if he says "How are you?" I respond
"Fine, How are you" or "O.K. How are you?"

To greet is to surrender to beauty. Don't
miss the opportunity to greet another
person whenever it is appropriate. Just
as we are blessed to "acknowledge God
in all our ways" we are blessed to greet,
acknowledge each other.

Today, it is unfortunate that many people
using cellular phones or portable computers
are depriving themselves and others of
exchanging greetings. Indeed, this is just
another casualty of advanced technology.

Once a comrade said to me. "You often
greet people but a lot of other peope don't
do that." His point was non-greeting people
are likely doing it right, not me. I responded
"I will not miss my blessing, the joy I receive
from greeting people just because some
other people do not greet people as often
as I do."

Copyright 2015 by Uriah J. Fields

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and at: www.uriahfields.com