Do you purposely avoid eye contact (quiet, chicken, friendly, well)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So I recently moved to a town of 20k from a city that has over 3 million in the metro area. Everyone here is really nice and if I were to see them at the grocery store I'd at least acknowledge them with a quick hello, my supervisor being the exception. He's a real condescending prick and I admit that the other employees under his supervision get worse treatment then I do so maybe I'm being a tad sensitive. I just don't ever want to see him anywhere outside of work and if I do I really don't want to even acknowledge him.
Now in a city of over 3 million the odds of this being an issue would be....well... 1:3E6 I guess. But since this is a small town it's been a minor worry for me to the extent that I just avoid eye contact with people when I'm out. Does anyone else do this or experience this?
Yes I do. Call me a chicken worried that I may make eye contact with a person at the wrong place and time and set them off. Or call me an introvert who would prefer to avoid people when I can. I consider eye contact (without the cynicism) an invite, and I really don't like inviting people in.
I've never avoided eye contact with anyone in my life. I've encountered a few people in my life who couldn't make eye contact with me. I have nothing to do with that sort of person.
In a big city one avoids eye contact in order to keep one's privacy, and to keep from invading others' privacy as well.
In a smaller area, it is expected that you will wave or say hello. Not to do would seem rude, I think. If you see your supervisor in a public place, and he/she sees you, I'd just nod my head in acknowledgement, and move on.
I agree with posts #4 & 5. There is no reason to avoid eye contact in a small town, and that goes for your boss as well if you see him somewhere. He is probably a different person outside of work (very common for people to be different outside of work, even myself), and don't think he wouldn't know that you purposely avoided eye contact with him. Just nod or wave and say hello back if he greets you.
Eye contact with people I know when I see them in town? Absolutely! Of course, I usually say hi as well, maybe talk to them for a few minutes.
In our neighborhood - absolutely! I look at them and wave. It's a friendly, neighborly thing, plus if someone is a stranger and possibly out to cause problems in the neighborhood (steal something), letting them know that they have been seen can be a crime deterrent.
I've never avoided eye contact with anyone in my life. I've encountered a few people in my life who couldn't make eye contact with me. I have nothing to do with that sort of person.
IM quite a private quiet person and hardly ever make eye contact sadly.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
