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Post by Bruce Partington-Plans on Nov 27, 2023 11:13:45 GMT
An interesting article in The Guardian recently caught my attention, being about an "initiative" that I suspect most chaps (and chappettes) have practised for years - the act of wishing passersby a cheery "hello" or "good morning/afternoon" as you go about your daily business. Once a common occurrence on British streets, this friendly greeting has withered over the years to the point where we are now facing a looming public health crisis of loneliness if the WHO is to be believed. So it has fallen to the Swedes to come up with this nice idea of reintroducing the saying of "hello" (or "Hi", which I suppose is better than nothing) to strangers as you pass them by, hopefully to produce a feeling of friendliness or if only to make people "feel seen" again. The Grauniad reporter's attempts to put this into practice on the streets of London more or less produced the results I was expecting, ranging from bemusement to disgust, which shows how bad things have got, but once explained the idea seems to be received positively (no surprise the "dapper" chap in the blazer liked it!) so I see no reason why this could not be made a public health edict (I can just see the advertisements now) to normalise this once commonplace interaction again. So remember folks, next time you're out and about - smile and Säg hej! to the person walking past you and - even better if you have a hat, doff it to them!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2023 14:26:33 GMT
I no longer greet people Bruce. Been rejected too many times. Besides the locals fear me and avoid eye contact.
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Post by Bruce Partington-Plans on Nov 27, 2023 15:05:03 GMT
It's not an easy path to take, especially if you're a witch, I agree. Is there a secret sign, like the freemasons have, to help you identify yourselves to each other?
Perhaps unsurprisingly I find the older generations (immediately pre- or post-war, usually) the most receptive to a friendly hello.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2023 16:05:56 GMT
No secret sign but as to me you'd know as soon as you saw me. I'm quite well known around these parts as "the witch lady". People come around for tarot readings and charms or they want a spell on someone. It's actually a good source of income/entertainment. But only evenings if you please as I have my job/contract with the insurance company. So the front door remains locked with the CLOSED sign. The neighbours close the shutters and blinds when my witches covens do our spell dances surrounded by a ring of fire in my backyard.
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