You’ve heard of one-upmanship, right? I just realized that I practice one-downmanship when I greet strangers. (I don’t think I do this with people I know — if I do, you can let me know.)
I rarely initiate a greeting. Instead, I make eye-contact with a somewhat-open expression on my face to indicate that I’m willing to receive a greeting if the person is interested in giving me one.
If the other person says “How ya doing?” I say “Hello.”
If the other person says “Hello” I say “Hi.”
If the other person says “Hi” I say a clipped-off “Hey.”
If the other person says “Hey” I nod and smile.
If the other person smiles, I give a half-nod while simultaneously rolling my eyeballs upward a little bit to make it appear that I’m nodding more than I really am.
If the other person gives a half-nod, I allow the barest touch of a smile reach the outer corners of my mouth.
This probably explains why, when I pass people I don’t know, we frequently both sorta stare at each other with semi-maniacal looks on our faces.
I don’t do any of this this intentionally — it’s just something I observed about myself in recent months.