Interacting with people in the hallway

Post Reply New Topic

Does anyone else have trouble handling the awkwardness of towards someone else coming form the opposite direction in the hallway? It's like, there's an impending social interaction about to happen, which is trouble in of itself. And but not only that, but technically the interaction is already happening because you and the other individual probably have already seen each other. Finally, when you get close enough that saying hi won't be too awkward, it's sort of a relief. Being a social outcast, it can be even harder because people don't want to greet you, even if they know you. So they'll usually try to look away, or increasingly in the digital era, stare at their phones. So my question to WP is, how do you guys deal with having to interact with people while walking in the hallway?

I just wave from about 10 feet away if I know the other individual's name, 20 feet away if I don't know the name but have seen the individual before. And, not at all if I haven't seen the individual before, unless they initiate a welcome.

Letting my hands do the talking (or, in this case, the waving), is a lot easier to me than trying to make small talk. If my scheme gets me involved in a short conversation, so be it. At least I have given myself some warning.

I ignore them (look down or away, or pretend to be busy) unless they greet me (in which case I greet them back). This outcast has as little interest in interacting with them as they have in me. That is if I'm paying that much attention to people I pass by at all. I tend to be in my own thoughts a lot.

Funnily enough, that's all I want to do at work. I'm a cleaner, and when I pass one of the other cleaners in the corridor, I just have to stop and chat, and because they are nice people I work with, they always like a chat too. Some don't care if a manager person sees us and tells us to get back to work, others are more nervous and would scurry off if we are caught talking during work time. OK I know I'm like a nervous wreck in life but at the same time I don't do everything by the book. I often break little rules if I know I'm not going to get found out, like having a sneaky look on my phone during work time when nobody's around. I know I look innocent and honest, but I bloody ain't!