Since moving back to the Hill, I’ve been reminded of how bad we Seattleites are with our walking/eye contact practice. The standard Seattle response when approaching someone walking down the street is to politely avert one’s eyes. Look down, look up, look over — whatever. Don’t actually stare! It’s rude.

This trend is so prevalent that my boss (who, like me, has lived most of his life in the Seattle area) told me about a trip to NYC where he was stunned because all the women on the street actually looked him in the eye. He explained that he thought they were all hitting on him until he realized it was just a cultural difference between the two cities.

I’ve been trying to get better about looking people in the eye as I walk past them, but it’s strange: if you actually manage to make eye contact, the usual response is this an oddly tight, terse, closed-lipped little smile. One of those smiles that almost turns down at the edges; a bit of a grimace. I do it, too! It’s sort of an “Alrighty, then.” You know The Nod? It’s like the smile equivalent of The Nod. An efficient, quick little acknowledgment.

It’s not like I’m on a one-woman mission suggesting we all start toothily grinning at everyone on the street, noodling our arms in the air and hollering “HI THERE, NEIGHBOR!” while we try to touch each other all over and kiss both cheeks and lick an earlobe. (Please, only my close friends get the arm noodles and earlobe routine!) But a little progress would be great — maybe I’ll try adding “Good morning” to my repertoire.