Hello!: Are You Afraid of Greeting Strangers?

"To greet or not to greet?". That is the question we each ask ourselves everyday when someone passes us or when a social interaction between you and a stranger seems inevitable. Have you ever had an urge to say hello, but held back because of fear, or have you been scrunching your fists when someone attempts to make conversation in the tube?

The truth is, we fear social interactions with those whom we don't know. It is a natural primal instinct to not trust something you don't know. The worst time is when someone starts talking to you in a public place like a tube or bus and everyone stares at you as if it was your fault that their peace has been disturbed. People just don't like getting into social interactions with people they don't know and we are always suspicious of who will speak next.

The odd thing is that even though there are far more people in an urban setting than in a rural setting, you are far more likely to greet someone in the countryside than you are in the city. This may seem quite odd, but when you are walking in the fields it almost feels natural to greet someone. It could be that you are so unused to having loads of people around you crammed into every nook and cranny on the tube that you crave some sort of social situation or it could be that people are thankful to see another human being in a place where nature dominates. Maybe the reason we greet is that we are so unlikely to see someone again in the wilderness that you want to satisfy your social cravings.

Whatever it is, it is an oddity that we wish to not be disturbed even though we are such social animals. Perhaps that in the current climate of fear and terrorism, that any change in the norm will cause people to fret. As greeting people on the public transport i snot usual and is frowned upon society it is not normal to go up to someone and then start chatting to them. They may even claim harassment against you. In this compensation 'trigger happy' world that could be a bad idea. The last thing people want is someone coming up to them on the 22 bus at rush hour after a long day at work and trying to chat them up.

Unless you want to get a slap or get a fine, I suggest you leave all social interactions at clubs, bars and parties where they belong and please do not disturb the peace of the public transport!