The Drop
In the Midwest, everyone says "How are you?" or "How's it going?" to strangers. It's a peppy, mandatory interchange.There's an oldster at the local grocery store who refuses to follow the convention. He's a checker, and he has this perpetual look of disgruntlement.
Even looking disgruntled is frowned up on in west Michigan, so this is a serious violation of protocol.
I've used the standard greetings often during the last year with this guy, and he just grunts or doesn't even respond. When he does respond, it's in a low, muffled voice, always looking away.
I decided to try a variation of the standard greeting.
Instead of going up on "doing?," I tried going down instead. Way down.
Eeyore down.
The first time I did it, he looked at me and answered in the same pitch. Now, every time I go into the store and see him, I drop into Eeyore and he answers every time. Sometimes, he speaks first.
Tribe identification successful.
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