I claimed “greetings” as my salutation, both written and verbal, of choice back in high school.  It was just something I did to be ornery because I was bored with the typical “hello” and “hi” and “sup.”  I kept it because I came to like it and having a default salutation meant I didn’t have to think of an appropriate one when presented with a circumstance in which I have to greet someone.  But it’s only recently that I’ve come to realize how much other people pick up on the fact that I say it, or perhaps more so, when I don’t say it.  A-pusher confirmed that too.  She’s noticed that people ALWAYS say something when they catch me not saying “greetings.”

At clic, where I am currently working, several of the employees on the client side take great pleasure in catching me when I don’t say “greetings” to them in the morning.  It happens.  I don’t ALWAYS say “greetings.”  I just say it the overwhelming majority of the time.  One of the employees, whom I will refer to as FD, once kept saying “good morning” to me because I didn’t say “greetings” in return.  In fact, I didn’t until he specifically asked me to say it.  I have the bad habit to respond to “good morning” with a very snarky “yes, it is morning.”  He apparently really just wanted to hear me say “greetings” though.  To the point where he asked me to say it.

At clib, there were several contractors with whom I worked who also were greatly entertained by my salutation of choice.  One would also wait for me to say “greetings” then he could then very grandiosely reply “SALUTATIONS!!”  One of my fellow THEM colleagues working with me at clib would also let me know “I have greetings!” every time he received an email from me.  Another of the clib employees would just beam when I said greetings.  It was…a little disconcerting.

I guess I’m stuck now.  I have to say “greetings” for the rest of my life.  I’m known as that greetings girl now.  Forever.  For-EVAR.

I don’t really mind.  Because like I said, I like having the default.