If I'm waiting in a really long line at the store or something maybe - but just saying "hello" or nodding at everyone you pass on the street? That's odd to me. Maybe when I was in college but not now.

When someone looks over at me and I see them I will smile and say hi. My step dad is a talker though. Anywhere we go he wont just say hi hell start conversations with some people. Ive always said hi though. Someone people will look at you like your a wierdo if you do that in some places.

Ive ended up in long convos with people I dont know while in lines all over the US. Its nice to talk to people.

In the south where my family is from if you dont talk to people when they talk to you they get upset. People in NC talk to everyone, no matter if they know them or not. I like that though.

Sounds like my mother. She'll strike up a conversation with anyone!!

I think in Chicago its mixed. Some people speak and some don't. Just depends on your mood that day.

I dont know if its a New England thing but when I say hi to people I dont know at school or to people in the region people get thrown off. I have a 15 minute walk from my residence hall to the main campus so on the way I pass a good amount of people. Ive come to the conclusion that people at my school dont want to greet each other. Right when they pass you they look at their watch or look away. I they do acknowledge you is more like a nodding of the head. Its rare that someone you dont know will open their mouth and speak to you. My parents, being from the south, raised me to speak to people. So I say hi anyway.

Yup!

I do this. But not all the time. You know that weird, awkward moment when you're walking past someone on the sidewalk and you're both trying to avoid making eye contact but it just seems weird to keep looking down or look the other way? Instead, try giving them a big ol' smile and saying, "Hi!" as you walk by. Somehow it makes you feel better, like you're doing a good deed for the day or something haha.

But I definitely talk to people in lines, on the elevator, etc. I don't know why, it's just what I do. I also wave at anyone who drives past me in the other lane on my road, even if I don't know them. I'm weird, I guess.

Just don't take any candy from them.

Oh, wait, I'm supposed to tell my grand daughter that!

As someone else mentioned, if eye contact is made, I say hi.

Does anyone else keep hearing "Don't Talk to Strangers" by Rick Springfield when they see this thread?

I think it is a New England thing. I can't help but find this creepy, even though I know I shouldn't. I don't know anyone that talks to strangers. Maybe in line at the supermarket if it's super slow, so we can grumble together, but that's about it.

But I haven't really noticed anyone saying hi to me in the South. I just got back from a road trip to FL, and outside of the hellos I got entering Waffle House, no one noticed me.