Hello!

It shouldn鈥檛 be, but 鈥渉ello鈥� seems to be one of the most difficult words to say to one another these days.

Yes, masks have made it harder to communicate in all aspects 鈥� still, I鈥檓 finding more and more that one simple little greeting to a stranger or a neighbour is falling out of fashion.

Canadians are funny when it comes to presence; we鈥檙e somewhat of a timid, shy, and overtly polite bunch 鈥� but the way we greet one another also seems to change from region to region.

The last time I went home to small-town southern Alberta, I noticed the strong, confident 鈥渉ellos鈥� booming back and forth from people passing each other on the street or in a park.

This was the way I was brought up and had grown accustom to 鈥� it was nice to be back.

Coming from this environment and then moving to downtown Vancouver, I soon discovered it was not a good idea to vocalize anything to anybody I passed.

Vancouverites became offended, either figuring I must have been hitting on them or attempting to rob them鈥� I鈥檓 really not sure which one as I was greeted with the same look of sheer terror every time.

In Newfoundland, you don鈥檛 dare say hello to someone because you鈥檒l be on the street having a conversation for hours on end.

In the Terriories, the land is so sparse, you got for hours without seeing a soul; you find yourself saying 鈥渉ello鈥� to moose instead.

In Quebec, you will get yelled at or you will get silence.

In Toronto, it鈥檚 a competition to see who can speak the loudest.

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In 91原创, I have discovered what we have here is something I like to call 鈥渢he soft hello.鈥�

People in these parts seem to feel obligated to say something.

There鈥檚 enough small-town friendly neighbour attitude that prompts a reaction, but there鈥檚 some mixture of big city or perhaps a shyness that sends it off kilter.

I鈥檝e noticed it鈥檚 mostly older folks who keep their eye contact, and say a pronounced and audible greeting, too.

Younger people 鈥� even if their eyes are peeled away from screens 鈥� tend to look down and mumble a response.

I think virtual communication has done that to us. I mean, I do know far too many Millennials who are petrified to make an actual, physical phone call.

But in 91原创, I鈥檝e found that people say 鈥渉ello鈥� in the softest volume available; so quiet, it hardly registers.

God forbid you shorten the greeting from 鈥渉ello鈥� to 鈥渉i,鈥� because at such softly uttered volumes, that just comes across as a nervous whimper.

Then there鈥檚 even 鈥渢he silent hello.鈥�

I鈥檝e been guilty of this one 鈥� where two people make eye contact but speak at such a hesitant volume, no noise comes out. They just end up mouthing words to each other.

The simple, slight male head nod it a whole other story.

With masks, the silent hello, the quiet hello, and even a respectable hello have fallen by the wayside. They have blocked that opportunity 鈥� as have the distances we all must all keep.

Do we keep to ourselves out of the risk of making people uncomfortable?

Are phrases like 鈥渢op of the mornin鈥� to ya鈥� too over the top these days?

Should we lift our hats or curtsy? Well, my gut tells me yes on that one, but I doubt most will be on board.

Ultimately, a simple acknowledgement or brief communication can make a day for someone feeling lonely or going through a tough time.

Let鈥檚 get over our fears, speak over our masks, and take a risk.

Let鈥檚 do the unthinkable and proudly say 鈥渉ello.鈥�