Greetings!

A women from an Eastern European country told me when she first moved here, people would pass her and say “How’re you?” but before she had time to answer, they walked on. She didn’t realize it was a greeting. A form of “Hello” or “Hi”. She was mystified because they had asked how she was but didn’t stay long enough to find out. She laughed when she remembered  the difficulty she had getting used to different customs in this country. My mother-in-law also said that when her father first came here from Sweden, people would casually ask how he was. He would go into great detail to tell them until they either got bored and disconnected from him or politely listened but never asked again. “Why would they ask if they didn’t really want to know?” he wondered. Casual greetings are an odd thing. I thought of this when I was out walking yesterday morning. A man on a bicycle passed me and I said something like the proverbial, “Hi, howya doin’?” He answered “Be well.” Seemed like kind of an odd greeting but I didn’t think much of it. He got about thirty feet down the road, turned around, came back and slowed down to say “Be well” again, this time a little louder and more definitive. I got the feeling it was some sort of requirement so I said, “You be well too”. I guess that was the response he wanted because he turned and took off up the hill. The same guy passed when I was getting in the car this morning and I knew to greet him with “Be well.” He smiled broadly and rode on.

Photo courtesy ottawagraphics