The Lost Art of Greetings

Eye contact. A nod of the head. A “hello”.  All are simple ways to greet people.  So why is it so hard to get someone to perform these simple tasks day to day?  Maybe it’s the way I was brought up by my parents, but it really irks me when people do not respond to my greetings.  I understand if you’re preoccupied, but do you have to ignore me?! I work at a university so I run into people I don’t know daily.  I’m a really friendly person so I usually greet almost everyone I see.  Of course I’m not going to say hi to everyone but to people I usually make eye contact with.  It’s half and half on the responses I receive.  On the positive end, they respond with a hello, a smile, or a nod with their head.  On the negative end, they walk right past me, look at me like I have 5 heads, give me a dirty look, or given (a few times) some good ole eye rolling.  What exactly am I doing wrong? Am I pissing you off for acknowledging your presence? For being polite?  It shouldn't be like squeezing water out of a rock for goodness sake. 

I should remind myself often that with every positive there is a negative.

While on the subject of manners, I would really appreciate it if people didn’t come into my office to drop off late paperwork and pass hellish gas.  Otherwise your paperwork may get lost.   

Met the BF’s parents for the first time yesterday at the Chinese earthquake benefit dinner.  His parents are so adorable and outgoing.  I was presently surprised since most Asian parents can be really uptight. His dad has an incredible sense of humor which I love. The benefit itself was a wonderful turnout.  They ended up raising a lot of money which is awesome! Had some great food while enjoying the company of good friends.

2 more weeks until I’m basking in the sun at Florida. An entire week away from work. Please come faster.

School is over, finally.  I managed to pull all A's and B's this semester.  This is a miracle considering how I slapped together a horribly written paper on the Tamil language along with a 150 word gloss (which was transcribed in 2 frantic hours) for Phonetics. But I got a B+. I'm kicking myself in the head knowing fully that I could have gotten an A if I tried harder. But it's too late now. And the class that I was ranting about this entire semester (Research Methods) I've managed to score an A. He later told me that I busted my ass to make this project work. Although I had no significant results, he said he learned some things about acculturation. Needless to say, that totally made my day. I asked if he would write me a recommendation for grad school with which he responded a cheerful "Anytime!"  I'm still contemplating if I want to go to grad school or not. I honestly think if I have to study for 3 more years I'll go insane. 

Starting next week I'll be working full time! 8 to 5 Monday through Friday. Although this means sacrificing some sleeping time I'll be making enough money to pay my bills, Florida trip, DSLR camera, NY trip, and the many many birthdays to come.  I like working anyways. It keeps me productive and slim. I get fat whenever I don't work, no joke. 

Birthday party this weekend with friends and family. I also get my Blackberry curve this week =)

Ask (or beg) and you shall receive.

Dear Professor,

You're probably wondering why you haven't received an email from me yet. I know I made a promise that you will receive my finished data collection on Monday night. Well I don't know what to say other than that I suck at promises.  I realized what an incredible failure my collection turned out to be that I would have to drop out of school to escape my embarassment if I submitted it.  My statistical analysis will prove that I am the dumbest student that you have ever had up to date. My tables look like they could have been constructed better by my 6 year old cousin. So I beg of you, please pity this student and give a week extension for all the due dates until the end of the year. If not, my head just might explode during our next encounter. Or to make things easier a simple "A" for my grade will suffice. I'm a reasonable person.

Gratefully yours,
Melissa

I feel drained. Exhausted. Pooped. Tired. Dead. I think you get the point.

It's 3am and I'm reading the same section on the general characteristics of generability over and over again for my artic test. I don't see how it can get worse than this.