Day #35: When You Say Hello

I'm guilty of doing the theater hello.

"Hiiiiiiiii, good to seeeeee you."

I'm not sure when you learn to do it, but somehow nearly everyone that does theater does.

It's not so much that we're fake, but the theater hello definitely sounds fake.

I think it's just a general greeting most of us developed so that we could say hi to a lot of people quickly and kindly without getting into long conversations thereby causing us to miss saying hello to other people.

...Or maybe some of us are just being fake.

I know when I do the theater hello, I sound beyond fake. I sound like Emily Post if she were a muppet.

So today I decided--no more theater hello.

But that meant I needed a new hello.

FRIEND: So what did you come up with?
ME: Well, I always liked that Bill Cosby's son used to greet people by saying "Hello Friend."
FRIEND: No way can you make that work.
ME: Yeah, I realized that. I sound like I'm going to offer candy from my van every time I say it.
FRIEND: So then what?
ME: Glad we meet again.
FRIEND: And?
ME: I sound like Captain Kirk.
FRIEND: Shatner or Pine?
ME: I'm not even going to dignify that with a response.

I figured out it isn't what you say, it's the way you say it.

Today I remembered to take that extra second saying hello to people, look them in the eye, and smile.

In other words, you'll get to everyone eventually, but in the meantime, be present with the person you're talking to so they feel like you're actually investing in them.

Oh, and add a 'really.'

"It's really good to see you."

That way they know you mean it.