Who wants to be a sourpuss? The Princeton diss is not the final answer

Regis Philbin: All right, if you get this question, you will be going home with one million dollars! Here it is: If you are taking a walk through the heart of Princeton's campus and you see people coming in the opposite direction, do you A) Smile at everyone you see and say, "Hello"; B) Give everyone a sheepish grin; C) Keep your head down and only look up occasionally to say, "Hi" to a good friend; or D) Ignore everyone and just marvel at the University's rustic beauty?

While we could always argue about what is the truly "correct" answer, I would say that on average most Princeton students would answer "C" and win the million dollars. No lifelines needed on that one.

But why is "C" the correct answer? Well, if you go on any random stroll during the year and you see people walking along by themselves, usually the only people they will ever address will be their good friends. It has become apparent to me over the past few years that most students here do not go out of the their way to be friendly to strangers. And I'm not talking about the days when it's cold and the wind is blowing and we need to wear hats and hoods. This happens September through May. While walking on McCosh Walk, most people have their heads down or tilted to the side, completely absorbed in their own thoughts and concerns.

But why is this so? Is this just a sociological phenomenon indicating that we are very busy people and have no time for frivolous oneor two-word conversations with complete strangers? Or do we go out of our way to ignore them? It is most likely a combination of factors — we are thinking about other things, we are worried whether someone will respond to a casual salutation or we are intrigued by the cracks in the pavement. Unfortunately, the symptom of this problem has been the a feeling of general unfriendliness.

I am guilty of it along with everyone. I don't say "Hi" to everyone I meet, and I am sometimes offended when someone whom I know vaguely from a class or elsewhere does not acknowledge me in passing with a simple "Hello." That feeling of offense passes after about 10 seconds, but the sentiment is still generated.

And of course, there are those who are very outgoing, say "Hi" to everyone they see and strike up conversations with those they may have seen once or twice. For the most part, however, when we are speaking of two random strangers, this does not occur.

Having just completed a week during which many sophomores had to put on displays of various kinds to gain entrance to eating clubs, this casual social malaise has struck a deeper chord within me. Perhaps the club system intensifies these social divides so that we end up hanging out with discrete groups of people and do not acknowledge others with whom we usually do not associate.

But it doesn't have to be that way. I am not asking anyone to hug every person he sees in passing and try to meet everyone on campus. But smile, say "Hello," or just nod your head. Don't look at someone, make eye contact, then put your head down and justify your actions because you don't know the person. We are not living in New York City or another booming metropolis. This is a small campus, and if you see a complete stranger once, chances are you will see him or her again.

So perhaps you can stick in someone's memory as someone who said "Hello," as opposed to someone with a tilted head, or with eyes looking exactly 30 degrees to the right of the oncoming person, or as a face glued to the pavement. Seth Wikas is a Near Eastern Studies major from Beachwood, Ohio. He can be reached at sawikas@princeton.edu.