I am writing this to liberate you. There is a heaviness on you that you were never meant to bear… the pressure of being concise, imaginative, and catchy with no warning at all. It happens multiple times a day, as you turn a corner and are forced into being pithy and clever in how you greet a person as you pass him or her in a hallway. I called this the “Personal Hallway Greeting” or the “Hallway Howdy.” You know you have one.
It fascinates me how people have developed their own distinct hallway greeting. “Sup dude.” “Hi ya hi ya hi ya.” “Helllllooooooo” spoken with a nondescript accent. Maybe a “wassup” nod (kind of like the street flavor to that one). Or the not-needed, “Morning Glory!” Or, “Well how the heck are ya?” followed by the response “Too blessed to be depressed.” Seems like a lot of time and energy has been spent in trying to add personal pizzazz to the obligatory hallway greeting. Also seems just plain unnecessary.
I’m not sure how the research and development process goes in determining a personal hallway greeting, but I assume the process is almost as time-intensive as brainstorming, planning, recording, re-recording, obtaining feedback, and re-re-recording the clever voice mail greeting. It seems that people create their one-of-a-kind hallway hello and stick with it no matter what. I would assume no less after the mental energy spent on developing it. But really, it’s not needed.
I suggest to simply say, “Hey.” Can you feel the freedom in that? Ahhhh… I can. Or let me suggest the shockingly commonplace: “Good morning” (I prefer “mornin” but that’s just me). And don’t sound hyped up on caffeine or like you are from another country (unless you are). Just be plain. Be simple. Be ordinary. Be free. Be liberated. Go head. I give you permission.
It fascinates me how people have developed their own distinct hallway greeting. “Sup dude.” “Hi ya hi ya hi ya.” “Helllllooooooo” spoken with a nondescript accent. Maybe a “wassup” nod (kind of like the street flavor to that one). Or the not-needed, “Morning Glory!” Or, “Well how the heck are ya?” followed by the response “Too blessed to be depressed.” Seems like a lot of time and energy has been spent in trying to add personal pizzazz to the obligatory hallway greeting. Also seems just plain unnecessary.
I’m not sure how the research and development process goes in determining a personal hallway greeting, but I assume the process is almost as time-intensive as brainstorming, planning, recording, re-recording, obtaining feedback, and re-re-recording the clever voice mail greeting. It seems that people create their one-of-a-kind hallway hello and stick with it no matter what. I would assume no less after the mental energy spent on developing it. But really, it’s not needed.
I suggest to simply say, “Hey.” Can you feel the freedom in that? Ahhhh… I can. Or let me suggest the shockingly commonplace: “Good morning” (I prefer “mornin” but that’s just me). And don’t sound hyped up on caffeine or like you are from another country (unless you are). Just be plain. Be simple. Be ordinary. Be free. Be liberated. Go head. I give you permission.
