From early in my time as an adult, I’ve said hi to and smiled at strangers on the street. In a large percentage of cases, I’ve gotten friendly smiles or nods back. That interaction with people has been a big part of my life for almost 50 years.
Unfortunately, when Covid and the lockdowns and masking came along, that changed dramatically. I continued to say hi or smile and I don’t know if the people I said hi to were smiling because I couldn’t see their faces. But they often lacked any other response also. They didn’t nod or say hi back and they walked a little faster past me. Remember that this was outdoors and that by about September 2020 it was pretty clear to those of us who looked at studies that transmission of the coronavirus outdoors, especially to people passing and at all times at least 2 or 3 feet away, was minimal.
In my area, I still see a lot of people wearing masks outdoors but I would say that it’s down to about 15%. I never gave up saying hi to and smiling at people. Now I’m getting something back.
Last Wednesday a friend and I were walking in Monterey and a young woman jaywalked to where she would get within a few feet of us. While she was still on the road, she must have seen me looking to make sure no car was coming that would hit her. (There wasn’t, and presumably she checked that out in advance, but my little caution cost virtually nothing.) When she looked at me, she smiled and I smiled back. Then she broke into a big smile and said, “Hi” with a lot of positive energy. I said “hi” and smiled bigger.
My friend, observing this, said, “Do you know her?” “No,” I replied.
I think it’s important to do things liked this. People’s fear about Covid-19 and the lockdowns, which were particularly harsh in coastal California, damaged society. Russ Roberts once said in testimony before Congress: “I want my country back.”
I want my society back.
READER COMMENTS
Johnson85
Nov 22 2022 at 4:03pm
“In my area, I still see a lot of people wearing masks outdoors but I would say that it’s down to about 15%.”
It is shocking to me how much irrationality varies in different locations (or probably more accurately, how differently irrationality manifests itself in different locations). I would be disturbed if 15% of people where I live wore masks inside, much less outside. Makes me curious as to what irrational thing 15% of people where I live do that I just don’t think about because I’m used to it. Or at least, uniquely irrational, and ignoring all the typical ways people are irrational.
Student of Liberty
Nov 24 2022 at 2:01am
You are lucky.
Where I live (not in the US), it is way above 50% who are still wearing masks (80% maybe?). People got scared by government for two years and when the government changed position (albeit still mandating masks in public transport), most people did not follow: they are still scared because they believed what they were told initially.
What is depressing is that they all got vaccinated and more than half of them got (mild?) covid nonetheless (despite masking up all the time as well indeed).
I cannot help but think there are more morons around than one would admit.
nobody.really
Nov 22 2022 at 5:12pm
National Public Radio’s Hidden Brain, Relationships 2.0: The Power of Tiny Interactions
Jim Dunning
Nov 22 2022 at 8:31pm
David, I was thinking the same thing today. And yesterday. And the day before that.
I’m visiting Southern California and noticing how many more people are wearing masks outside compared to my home in Northern Virginia. I’d say your 15% is on the low side for the part of LA I’m in (and both are noticeably higher than Virginia).
I agree with you: I enjoy “greeting” passersby while traveling the sidewalks in Highland Park shopping and it is sadly frustrating how often I can’t exchange smiles.
However, back in Northern Virginia, there appears to be a persistent bastion of masking, a surprising one: elite, highly-selective public high schools. I teach and in the morning before the first bell I sit working at a desk facing the school’s parking lot where students meet the early-morning bus they take to a nationally known magnet school. Easily two-thirds of them are masked as they exit their parents’ cars and get on the bus. Note that virtually none of their “local classmates” who attend classes in the building I’m in wear masks (under 5%) and there are no requirements to mask on the bus.
A student at the school confirms that many of her classmates continue to mask. Interestingly, those few in my school who continue to mask tend to be in the upper level classes, our AP classes. There are a number of factors, I’m sure, that contribute to the decision to mask, and I’m curious what the correlation is with class selection.
MarkW
Nov 23 2022 at 6:26am
I’m in the deep-blue liberal enclave of Ann Arbor, and I see very few masks on the street now — and the few I do see are mostly Asian (likely foreign grad students). And there were Asians wearing masks in public here even before the pandemic, so it doesn’t feel very different than before. Which is nice. The irrational outdoor masking (plus extreme social distancing) on trails in the parks did feel deeply weird before, and I’m glad it’s gone. During the pandemic, my wife and I would sometimes go hike on trails half an hour out of town, and the difference was very obvious. It was nice to pass by people out there who weren’t crazy (or at least not in that way).
Nick Ronalds
Nov 23 2022 at 9:15am
I’ve lived for extended periods in different countries (Germany, France, Japan, Hong Kong) and traveled to others, and in general no other people is as friendly in the types of situations you describe as Americans. It would be sad if Americans lose one of their distinctive (and attractive) cultural habits.
Mark Barbieri
Nov 23 2022 at 9:41am
I’ve always been fascinated with how these sort of “passing on the street” interactions vary across different parts of the US. In the South and Midwest, it is very normal and common to say “Hi” or at make eye contact, smile, and head-nod at other pedestrians you pass. At the other extreme, it practically felt forbidden in Manhattan.
MarkW
Nov 23 2022 at 9:49am
To some extent the difference is one of crowding. Nobody in the Midwest nods at all the passersby when navigating through a crowd. But Manhattan levels of crowding are pretty rare in the South and Midwest.
robc
Nov 23 2022 at 12:32pm
I grew up in KY, but went to college in the deeper south, and it was some adjustment to people I didn’t know saying hi to me when passing. But it wasn’t a big deal. A friend from NJ said when he first got there, he was ready to throw down and fight over it. It took him a while to realize people were being nice, not trying to start something.
Spencer
Nov 23 2022 at 1:37pm
Not a new trend. Porches used to be built in the front of homes, now decks are built in the backyards. It’s an economic trend. Goes along with the GINI coefficient. It’s because economists don’t know a debit from a credit.
Spencer
Nov 23 2022 at 3:18pm
The GINI coefficient is the highest in 50 years. “An important provision of the G.I. Bill was low interest, zero down payment home loans for servicemen, with more favorable terms for new construction compared to existing housing. This encouraged millions of American families to move out of urban apartments and into suburban homes.”
Liam R
Nov 23 2022 at 5:16pm
I moved from Oakland to Manhattan earlier this year for this reason, and am now very happy at the amount of social interaction I have.
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