It’s customary here to say “buenos días” or “buenas tardes” upon entering a place of business. Most people, I’ve noticed, don’t even pair it with an “hola.” Just buenas tardes or whatever and then on to their request. (I.e., two for dinner, can you dry clean these pants, etc.)
What I can’t figure out is whether it’s customary to greet strangers on the street. I’ve seen some people do it and some people not. So now, whenever I pass people walking by themselves, I find myself feeling kind of anxious. What if they look my way? Should I say it? Should I not say it? (My ansiedad could also stem from the fact that in Dallas, where I lived for seven years, it was considered rude not to smile and say hi to passersby.)
Once, I said it to a middle-aged woman who was standing alone on the sidewalk, staring off into space. She broke into a huge grin. “Buenos días,” she returned. The same thing happened in my neighborhood one other time, when I said it to a lady walking her dog.
In Patzcuaro, greeting strangers seemed much more common. People said buenos días when they got on the bus, and all the other passengers said it back. When I was hiking up to El Estribo, the town’s lookout point with a pretty view of the lake, I said buenos días to everyone, albeit half out of breath. (I was hiking uphill for more than an HOUR.) The persons receiving the greeting always smiled and said it back. Two teenage girls said it in unison, sing-songy, like they’d been doing this all their life.
The point is: I have no idea why I’m so obsessed with this, but I’d like to make sure I’m following the custom correctly.
If you live here, do you greet other people on the street? My rule so far has been that if someone makes eye contact, and we’re the only two people on the sidewalk, I’ll say it. But maybe that’s weird and wrong and I should just shut up because we live in a big city, and it’d be like saying hi to someone in New York City, which identifies you as a crazy person.
I had a New York friend who once told me “I couldn’t stand Dallas, everyone had to say ‘howdy’ to each other.”
I like how everyone here says hi, too, especially on elevators and at dr’s offices, although that’s a bit strange, depending.
It’s never wrong to be friendly. But CO is also a friendly state…
I tend to err on the side of saying it. Partly because I am that person who always makes eye contact with everyone who passes (even though yer mom tells you it’s not a good idea). And partly because people are generally blatantly staring at me anyway, so why not break the tension by demonstrating that I know at least 2 words of Spanish.
And as you said, people usually seem pleasantly surprised that the random stranger/insanely tall guera is friendly & not just running around the big city with her head down in a constant state of fear. 🙂
I think it is more commonly said in the provinces, and since so many people move to DF from the provinces, some of the people find it a familiar link to the memory of home.
Here in Mazatlán, it’s a rare person who doesn´t greet someone going the other way, getting on a bus or whatever. Even cool teen dudes with spiky hair hanging with their pals will if you say it first.
I’m also making an informal study of the ratio of buenos to buenos dias to buen dia to buen etc.
I love the habit and when I’m in DF I do like you do – only if I make eye contact.
In Michoacan, we’re big on “Buenos Dias” any time we pass just about anybody on the street. It’s not really that we particularly care about whether or not you have a good day; it’s more of a “I am harmless and not going to attack you” comment.
loved the post. i would say in df people very very rarely greet each other randomly like that on the street. it’s definitely more a walking into a negocio or before asking someone a question. certain situations might call for the random “buenas”, usually between people that have some sort of casual affinity or are engaged in the same action, like standing in line in a bank or taking the dog out for a walk.
Not to strangers, not in mexico city.