to think that people you see out walking would at least smile

[gallifrey]

I went out for a walk yesterday, an old couple were walking toward me, I smiled at them and they just glared back at me.
I then saw a man about my age, he got his phone out and started looking at that rather than make eye contact with me.
The next person I saw smiled and said hello as did the next one.

You get my drift...

What is so bloody hard about saying hello or smiling at a fellow human being?

People are miserable fuckers. Fact.

I usually smile at people but may hesitate if a fella was my own age as he may think I was after him

the north east must be a happier place...got 4 smiles, two "morning"s and a "hello love" when i took DS out for a walk the other day

People are usually quite nice up here in Scotland, generally if I smile at someone they are friendly back. Maybe it's different in "that London" .

Yabu. If I am out for a walk I don't necessarily want to be grinning at random strangers. Leave me alone to my thoughts.

Oh and don't get me started on people who say "cheer up it might never happen." Fuck off. Maybe it already has happened.

I posted about something similar recently - I am of the same opinion as you. The feedback I got was about half and half dis/agreement IYSWIM

Try walking accompanied by a small comedy dog. Nearly everyone smiles, says hello or stops to engage him us in conversation.

But even without the dog, I find most walkers out in the countryside do say 'hello' or 'lovely day' or 'not far to the top now' or whatever.

Try walking accompanied by a small comedy dog

Works for me too Grimma. Although they tend to smile at her and we may as well be invisible And little kids exclaim "look at that doggy's ears!" Poor Pruhound - its enough to give a dog a complex....

Am with Winkly. Having said that, there's a difference between walking down a busy road in London listening to music and minding my own business, and being out hillwalking and not acknowledging the greeting of the two people you pass up a mountain in the middle of an otherwise deserted landscape.

I do tend to smile and say hello if I pass someone while out walking (though not in the street normally).

But I'm sure there have been times when I have been out walking when something bad is going on in my life and I've been deep in thought. I would have appeared rude to anyone who acknowledged me as I walked by ignoring them

I say hello to everyone I meet, but I am usually with a very enthusiastic and filthy spaniel or riding my horse.

Sometimes when people ignore me, particularly if I have kept the dog out of their way whilst they jog/cycle past, I shout sarcastic remarks after them.

I'm a born and bred Londoner and I always say hello and smile at passers by if walking in park/woods etc (not down the high street or I would be saying hello approximately 856 times a day).

Depends where you live I think. Pretty much everyone I pass says hello here, or at the very least a smile. That's in a smallish Scottish border town. Tis heartwarming

You must live in a miserable area . I have the opposite problem - people not only smile but seem to want to strike up conversations. It's lovely.

That said, there's one mum at school who always avoids eye contact, doesn't smile and rarely talks. On the few occasions where's she's had to, she seems lovely and I'm pretty sure it's just because she's chronically shy. I think that's the case for a lot of people, rather than because they're anti-social. Keep smiling - most people will smile back as an involuntary reaction.

I've noticed this too; how hard is it to smile and say "Good Morning" back to someone? I don't usually mind if people don't return my greeting; I get that they might be "in the zone" but if they fail to crack a smile at the awesomeness of my perpetually cheerful dog, I am going to judge away. MISERABLE GITS.

I'm sure you're right about her being shy Sunshine. Keep saying hello . I bet she'll come out of her shell eventually.

I want to know where the crossover point exists between nodding, smiling and saying hello - and walking past another human as if they do not exist.

Example:

Walking up a hillside in the South Downs - everyone says hello; morning; lovely day etc.

Morning! Lovely day!
\ /

• - - -

Walking down urban street on the way to work - eye contact is generally avoided and any attempts to exchange smiles and pleasantries would put one firmly in the bonkers category

Morning!
\

• - - - - - - ~ tsk! nutter

SO - at some point between our walk in the countryside; jumping in the car and arriving at home - we have crossed an invisible line.

How small does a village have to be, to continue greeting everyone that you pass? Is there a mathematical formula to express this dilemma??

Is the dog/small child factor significant?

That is a very good question, Talc. I feel a social experiment coming on...

I have quite bad eyesight (I really need new glasses I think) so I can't tell if people are smiling at me when I'm walking towards them. For that reason I just look down as I walk past. Sometimes I smile and no one smiles back and that's pretty embarrassing!

Is the dog/small child factor significant?

Not child - children are too commonplace. Small Comedy Dog - you can smile at these (and by extension their owners) anywhere and the owners should smile indulgently back. The world is just a slightly happier place in the vicinity of my dachshund.

Take a stroll in the park alone to clear your head = not one single human will make eye contact.

Take a stroll in the park with dog = every Tom, Dick and Harry will stop you for a chat about your dog, their dog, their neighbour's dog, their cousin's dog.

My dog is 3 and in those years I've had him, I've had several people call out of their car window to say something about the dog. One lady even stopped her car to have a chat about the dog.

I've met more locals in the last 3 years than I have in the prior 20 years I've lived in the same area.

I ALWAYS make a point of saying something to the elderly in case I am the only person they speak to that day.

I often smile at mothers with children because I am one.

I see your comedy dachshund Gimma and I raise you a comedy basset hound

I often smile at people, or at the very least, make pleasant eye contact. Very rarely do I get I get blanked. If I'm feeling really evil happy I say hello and it can be nice to get a hello back, (or enjoyable to see people feeling disconcerted). This is in London