Am I obligated to say hello to people I recognize?

[pupluv45]

i really hate saying hi to people. for example, if i see my professor in the hallway. I don't say hello. They dont like it. When I walk into work, my supervisor didn't like that I don't say hi to my coworkers when I enter the building. I just don't know why I have to say hi to people I see on a daily basis. I find it lame, cumbersome. I don't even have any established friendship / relationship with any of these people. why do I have to say hi to them? I just don't like to say hi to people I don't have any emotional connection to.

[Telekinetic-Potato]

You don't have to say hi, you just have to acknowledge that they're a person you recognize.

When you meet someone and interact with them for almost any amount of time, you have a connection with them. Maybe it's not a very important one to you. But it is real and exists.

So when you just walk past a professor or an aquaitence or classmate and they look at you and you don't even give them eye contact and a smile or a wave, they feel rejected.

And it's worse when you add on that it makes it look like not only are you not friendly, but like you have a specific problem with them.

You want to network with people and leave good impressions. You NEVER know when you're going to need someone to like you in the future. You might be trying to work somewhere and it's very competitive and then it turns out your potential boss is best friends with your old professor who doesn't necessarily have anything negative to say about you, but also doesn't feel compelled to say anything nice about you. Which would be a really bad look.

It's annoying and kinda stupid but we have to follow some of these unwritten rules for our own good. It's probably the biggest thing that separates successful people from broke people. Having the ability to manage and maintain relationships.

[blackgaletiger]

I get what you mean. With me if people make eye contact long enough i just do the infamous head nod. nothing said but the message got a cross clear

[Summeroflove]

No you don’t have to. But they might say hi to you

[spartan55]

That's certainly your prerogative. So you require an emotional connection to say hello? Oookay...👌

[Anonymous]

It’s called manners and being polite. If you hate it that much then just don’t make eye contact.