Greetings

I walked by some guys on the street today.  While waiting to get close enough for the cursory 'hi', I instead got a "HEY MAN, HOW YOU DOING?".  I said "Good, you?" and he said GOOD.  It got me thinking. When walking by someone, either at work or on the street, I am constantly faced with the dilemma of how to greet them. I tend to have a tough time deciding at a moment's notice, because I find that I have various options to choose from:

1. Stare at the ground, glance over your shoulder, or at something really interesting on the wall, waiting until you are a specific distance from the person, then look to catch their eye.  You then have two options:
• You catch their eye, greet them, and move on (perfect)
• They don't look up, in which case you move on (muttering to yourself something about the lack of social graces in society these days...)
2. Greet them the moment you see them at the far end of the hall/sidewalk.  Again, in this situation you are left with choices after the initial greeting:
• Glance around awkwardly until you have passed one another
• Start up some meaningless conversation that will only last the 5-10 seconds you have left before passing one another (be careful on this one.  If you miscalculate on time, you'll end up doing that awkward over-the-shoulder conversation finish, where you're talking to their back, unsure if they're even still listening...)
• Continue to greet them every ten feet or so until you have passed (extra points for different greetings and/or languages)
3. Busy yourself with something (i.e. phone, papers, intently biting your fingernails) until you have passed one another with no greeting. (boo)
4. Stare them down.  First one to cry loses.

I think the probability of awkwardness is directly proportional to the distance at which you first see the other person.  The farther away you see them, the more likely you'll walk away from the exchange going "what was that?!".  I tend to mix it up a bit, but always try to greet them in some way, shape, or form. 

So how do you approach it?  Have I missed options?
However you do it, I say to you: Go forth, and GREET!

#Eric