clutteredlife.com: Reciprocation.

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Thursday, October 27, 2005

Reciprocation.

I have a terrible social habit that, I think, stems from my shyness (hidden cleverly underneath a fairly outgoing personality). There's a scripted greeting in which most people of this culture participate, but I can't seem to get right. Here's how a typical greeting between acquaintances often goes:
Person 1: "Hi, how are you?"
Person 2: "Fine, thank you. How are you?"
Person 1: "Fine, thanks."

Of course, the actual wording of the script might differ a little ("How's it going?" for example), but the general discourse remains intact across the board: Greet, Faux Inquiry, Standard Response and Reciprocation.

It's the reciprocation part I have trouble with. This is how it often goes for me:
Not me: "Hi Hilary. How are you?"
Me: "Great! Thanks!"
Not me: "..."

And there it ends. Either we break off there and go our separate ways, or we continue on with a more purposeful conversation. Usually I end up kicking myself minutes later for once again failing to heed social etiquette.
Yesterday, I participated in a greeting that went a bit awry:
Friend: "Hi Hilary. How are you?"
Me: "Great! Thanks!"
Friend: "I'm fine."

She jumped the gun, likely assuming she was dealing with a normal person who possessed the ability to perform within normal social parameters. Oops.
posted by hilary at 8:47 AM |

1 Comments:

PurpleMama said...: I catch myself doing that as well. Hmm...what could we do to change that?; 10/27/2005 3:20 PM

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