You meet one
of your neighbors
Vous rencontrez
votre voisin
great! no boring stressful conversation
I always say hello but in this case I'd just keep walking
but feel disappointed.
I approach them and see if there is something wrong.
I don't say hello either, I just pass by.
I go on my way without saying hi either
I let him go, maybe he is going through a rough day.
I say hello and smile.
I say hello.
I would continue walking
i would decide not to communicate with that person in future
I would feel excluded and upset. I would think that he/she
was upset with me and was choosing to ignore me. If he/she usually
says hello, I would ask him/her when I saw her next what was
wrong.
I would ignore that person too.
I would ignore the mas well
I would reply and ask about something we have/know in common.
I would say hello first.
I would think that he/she is rude.
I would think that it would be very rude. I'd be a little
annoyed
I would wonder why.
I wouldn't talk to them either. I would feel ignored.
If I know her, I say hello, else not, unless she is pretty.
ignore him/her
Ignore them
say hello
Say hello anyway, maybe they did not see you.
Say hello to them.
Smile and keep on walking
That's fine with me
yell at him until he recognizes you
You say hello.
c' est son choix
il ne m'a peut etre pas vu, il aurait pu me dire bonjour,
je le salue
j'espère qu'il ne m'a pas vu sinon, je pense qu'il
est fatigué en tout cas je ne peux pas lui en vouloir
énormément même si j'aurais apprécié
un "salut"
je continue sans le regarder
je l'ignore
je l'ignore également
je le lui fait remarquer sur le champ en lui lançant
''vous ne m'avez donc pas vu''
Je le salue tout de même, et pense qu'il ne m'a pas
vu...
je le/la salue quand même
je lui dirais bonjour d'un ton assez fort
je lui dis bonjour et entame la discussion (il êtait
peut-être distrait)
je lui dis moi-même bonjour, il ne m'a peut-être
pas vue. Si ça se reproduit souvent, je ne lui dis plus
bonjour.
Je lui dis quand même bonjour.
je lui dis simplement bonjour et je continue sur ma route
je lui dit bonjour
Je lui dit bonjour moi-même, pensant qu'il/elle ne
m'a pas vu.
Je m'en fou, mais je dis bonjour quand meme, de façon
à etre entendu.
Je me dis qu'il/elle abuse un peu mais après tout
c'est pas bien grave.
Je ne fait rien: il ne m'a peut-être simplement pas
vu.
je ne ferais aucune remarque, je penserais juste qu'il/elle
ne m'a pas vu
Je ne l'inviterai pas à mon prochain barbecue...
Je ne lui dis pas bonjour non plus
Je passe sans le voir.
je passe sans rien dire et je me dis que vraiment il n'est
pas interessant
je pense qu'il ne m'a pas vue
moi non plus
si je m'entends bien avec ce/cette voisine, je lui dit bonjour,
et j'insiste jusqu'à ce qu'il/elle reagisse. Sauf si je
suis mal reveille et que je ne le/la remarque même pas.
un vent de plus, faire semblant d'ignorer, un peu affecté
quand meme, penser aux circonstances atténuantes (pas
vu)
Un haussement d'épaule bien marqué et je passe
à la suite.Peut être m'en parlera t'il le soir même.
Discussion
Hello, I guess i'll start this one up :) I noticed that equal numbers of French and American students replied that they would either ignore the neighbor, or say hi and smile. However, many French students said that they would do so because the neighbor might not have seen them. Hence, although the reactions tend to be the same, the reasoning behind the reactions seems to be different. I'm not quite sure why this is-- perhaps French students are more naive, or American students are less forgiving...? I'm not sure at all. Anyone care to give it a try?
Just smile right back... it is not that hard!!!
This is a question for any of the INT students. My family lived in England (in suburban London) for 3 years while I was growing up, and one thing I noticed was that we never met our neighbors in three years. They weren't rude or anything, it was just that everybody basically just ignored everyone else.
So is France more like England (at least the London area) where you are not expected to meet your neighbors, or more like here in the US, where in the suburbs you are friendly with your neighbors, if not friends. I didn't really get a sense one way or the other from reading the responses to the questions.
Patricia, what you say, "Just smile right back... it is not that hard!!!", represents exactly what you'd usually expect from an American to do. They smile back, they nod. In two words, they don't give a damn about you, but at least they are kind. Right, right. Now you'll say "But we make friends with our neighbors". That is correct. Americans make friends with their neighbors so they can make them feel good about themselves. They follow quite directly their society's expectations. So, the Americans like to think of themselves as being friendly and good-hearted. You know, the merrymaker type. From that it simply follows that one should be friends with their neighbors. At least it should look like that to the rest of the people.
I believe, though, that this is the very reason why the US is still what it is now. Namely, because when somebody bumps in you, they would say "sorry" even if they don't really mean it and there is no harm done to neither party. This type of thinking helps preserve the American way of living. The reasoning goes something like "Nobody cares about what you think, just do whatever the society expects you to do and stay within the esablished limits and we're all going to be alright".
... and, yes, I know that many people would strongly disagree with me and hate me for this comment :-)
I guess I'm one of the people who kind of disagrees with you, Georgi.... It's true that sometimes, our relationships are very superficial. But by smiling at your neighbor, that doesn't mean that you're best friends with him. Sometimes, when I'm having a rough day, a smile helps tons. It could be from someone I'd never met before, but it helps for a second. But I guess I sort of agree with the fake friendliness bit-- perhaps we are hypocritical in public. However, what would being grouchy or not smiling (or whatever else) accomplish? I'm not sure that would be any better.
I don't agree with a few of you that say that people are friendly with their neighbors here. In my area, hardly anyone knows each other. Also, I think Georgi's comment is correct; that is why there are phrases like "what's up" and "how are you" which people just don't even reply to anymore as questions because they are so overused. It now became just a way of saying "hi."