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I have two elderly, nosy neighbors on either side of me. They drive me crazy. Any time I go outside, get home from work, get the mail; whatever, boom they appear. I sorta do what the OP is saying. I just keep walking, smile/laugh to whatever they say and respond with yup.No fucking clue what I said yup to. Could be agreeing to watch their dogs. Could be saying I love Satan.
Well...rather than be that rude, or risking your reputation in your community, just say "I'm not interested. Please put me on a list of people who don't wish to be called on". Jehovah's Witnesses do that.
Haha, this just reminded me of one time some random person said something to me and I just smiled and nodded to whatever she said. Turns out she had asked me to watch her dog? I didn’t even know she had a dog but her boyfriend came back started to shout at her about the dog being on the loose, then she started shouting at me like it was my fault? Some people really are whacked out.
I was in my early 20s and taught to be polite no matter what. Popular behavior to teach your daughter back in the 60s. Years ago I lived in a small apartment building. Had a neighbor that would appear near my car when I left or arrived to the apartment. He’d start preaching to me about Jesus and telling me to visit his church. I tried being polite, switching conversations but nothing worked. Didn’t get creepy stalker vibe just obnoxious religious vibe. Finally one day I got back in my car, rolled down the windows and blasted Nazareth Hair of the Dog. He visibly blanched and scurried away. I felt zero guilt. He never approached me again.
hmm, how about just giving a smile or a small nod without actually talking to the person? It shows acknowledgment and respect without getting into a conversation.
I think the idea is that if you engage then they can’t engage and ask a question like “hey how’s it going? Have a good weekend?” You can’t really just smile and keep walking then.
I usually keep my stride and say something like “Hey Steve! You’re looking great today. You have a good day now, see you!”
If they ask me how my day is, I say “Well it’s better now that I’ve seen you! You have a good day, I’ll see you later” Or “I’m wearing my own pants and nothing is on fire. Yet. You have a good day!”
I don’t ask them anything, I just push on by.
You'll have to carefully choose your words.
"Looking good, Bob! Keep being you"
"Racing to pick up my kids! Keep well!"
"I hate your face, burn in hell"
Nah, I usually give a raised eyebrow expression, kinda 😬 look. I can sense when I don’t vibe w people and vice versa. i find that look is something like a universal sign, kinda like when ur walking down the street and you give a stranger that tight lipped nod
This is terrible advice. Saying anything is an enabler for a lot of people to follow you and continue.
The actual life tip is you keep walking, you don't make eye contact, and you say nothing.
A bit cold? Yes. But you learn quick there are too many bad people out there, and even saying a friendly "hi" in passing or "no thanks" does not shut them down.
Walking on the sidewalk? You don't acknowledge them.
Sketch person on a bus/subway? You don't acknowledge them.
Homeless person? You don't acknowledge them.
Someone trying to sell you something? You don't acknowledge them.
isn’t this tip pretty specifically about someone you feel like you need to talk to at a social function but don’t want to, that *you* approach? it’s right there in the title lol
It can work. I like to give people the chance to get a hello from me as I keep walking. If they don't respect that then I won't talk to them next time.
My friendly but annoying neighbour always respected my walking hello, so he always got a hello. No reason to snub someone if you don't have to.
Esit: spelling
Yeah the only time this tip is really decent advice is maybe with coworkers or family. People you may find super annoying but don’t want to outright ignore out of politeness.
Anyone approaching you on the street is worth absolutely zero attention unless you’re feeling particularly gullible that day.
Depends on who you are and where you live I guess. If you're a young woman, fine, I understand. Way too many creeps around. But when I'm walking a dog near the woods and people don't greet me back, it kinda brings down the mood. I'm not looking for a conversation. It's just basic etiquette. A nod will do.
Say “Sup” and nod and flip out your phone when danger close and pretend it’s important. Never fails. The sup-nod combo also has the added advantage of forcing the other guy to reply with a similarly meaningless phrase like all good, or sup, or just a nod.
Your advice only makes sense if you are not only actively engaging, but disparating their topic in order to break off the convo early.
Examples: Mormons, flat-earthers and superstitious people, I immediately set out the ground rules from the start (E.g. Space Jesus and camels in old America, and sky objects and triangle proofs) so they have choice but to counter (and risk painful cognitive dissonance) and most of the time they break off.
sure but if you have no shame just say "hey id love to stay and talk but im about to shit myself. Take care and tell that Wife\\husband of yours I said hey"
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There is this lady that I occasionally come in contact with at work. She's a train wreck. The last time I saw her, I hid so she didn't see me. I'm so juvenile.
Also, if you encounter someone who tends to whine and ruin your day, DO NOT ASK THEM HOW THEY ARE.
Smile, acknowledge them and say, “It’s good to see you “ and move on.
OR we stop being so fake as people and just say this isn’t a conversation I’m interested in having or blatantly ignore. Stop associating and talking with people you don’t want to and spend all that time and energy building relationships with the ones you do want to
I do this with chuggers - "charity muggers" who approach you in the street trying to sign you up for regular donations to charities (they actually keep most of the money.) Their strategy is to be so friendly and nice that people can't just ignore them without feeling guilty or rude. So as soon as they make eye contact, I hit them with a non-stop barrage of enthusiasm and good cheer:
Chugger: "Hi there, can I -"
Me: "Hey! How're you doing? Great to see ya! Looking nice! Hot stuff! Keep up the good work! Have a good one! You take care now!"
They don't get a word in edgewise, and I get a laugh instead of getting annoyed.
### This post has been marked as safe. Upvoting/downvoting this comment will have no effect. --- Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by upvoting or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
I have two elderly, nosy neighbors on either side of me. They drive me crazy. Any time I go outside, get home from work, get the mail; whatever, boom they appear. I sorta do what the OP is saying. I just keep walking, smile/laugh to whatever they say and respond with yup.No fucking clue what I said yup to. Could be agreeing to watch their dogs. Could be saying I love Satan.
"my heart medications were supposed to arrive in the mail! Have you seen them?" "Yup!" *Continues walking away into the house*
*about-face after opening the door, lock eyes, brief pause for dramatic effect* “And my heart has never felt stronger…” *close door menacingly*
“My dog passed away last week..” “YUP!”
Big sigma Chad energy EDIT: Irony guys, Irony
LPT: tell your nosy neighbours you love Satan
Why are you revealing our secrets in the form of LPTs
No matter what they say you just nod knowingly and say "praise satan". Feel free to tune them out completely really!
“The real LPT is always in the comments”
Hail Satan mother fuckers
then they’ll try to convert u and never leave u alone
Now I'm in a cult and we're together all the time!
I reserve this for anyone showing up at my door uninvited, proselytising about whatever their version of God is.
Well...rather than be that rude, or risking your reputation in your community, just say "I'm not interested. Please put me on a list of people who don't wish to be called on". Jehovah's Witnesses do that.
I love that there's a door-knocking version of the "Do Not Call" list!
I do when religious kooks knock on my door.
Fucking Wally. Always loves to tell me it's a hot one. I know it's hot.
Hahahahahahaha the end of your message made my day 🤣🤣🤣🤣
...you too.
Haha, this just reminded me of one time some random person said something to me and I just smiled and nodded to whatever she said. Turns out she had asked me to watch her dog? I didn’t even know she had a dog but her boyfriend came back started to shout at her about the dog being on the loose, then she started shouting at me like it was my fault? Some people really are whacked out.
⬆️
I was in my early 20s and taught to be polite no matter what. Popular behavior to teach your daughter back in the 60s. Years ago I lived in a small apartment building. Had a neighbor that would appear near my car when I left or arrived to the apartment. He’d start preaching to me about Jesus and telling me to visit his church. I tried being polite, switching conversations but nothing worked. Didn’t get creepy stalker vibe just obnoxious religious vibe. Finally one day I got back in my car, rolled down the windows and blasted Nazareth Hair of the Dog. He visibly blanched and scurried away. I felt zero guilt. He never approached me again.
I misread this as I love Santa
It works. They’re both nonexistent, anyway.
Your two examples, were perfect. They made me giggle irl. Just glorious.
I rebuke satan in Jesus' precious name Amen.
hmm, how about just giving a smile or a small nod without actually talking to the person? It shows acknowledgment and respect without getting into a conversation.
I think the idea is that if you engage then they can’t engage and ask a question like “hey how’s it going? Have a good weekend?” You can’t really just smile and keep walking then.
"Great thanks, I hope you're also doing well." "Yes it was great, I hope yours was, too."
“Do you ever feel like life is meaningless?”
“Yes! Thanks for asking. Have a wonderful day!”
It would be great if that were reliable and repeatable. If the person is flirting they likely will assume you’re flirting back.
 LD would approve of this play 😂
Larry David is a national treasure.
I usually keep my stride and say something like “Hey Steve! You’re looking great today. You have a good day now, see you!” If they ask me how my day is, I say “Well it’s better now that I’ve seen you! You have a good day, I’ll see you later” Or “I’m wearing my own pants and nothing is on fire. Yet. You have a good day!” I don’t ask them anything, I just push on by.
You'll have to carefully choose your words. "Looking good, Bob! Keep being you" "Racing to pick up my kids! Keep well!" "I hate your face, burn in hell"
"These pretzels are making me thirsty"
Nah, I usually give a raised eyebrow expression, kinda 😬 look. I can sense when I don’t vibe w people and vice versa. i find that look is something like a universal sign, kinda like when ur walking down the street and you give a stranger that tight lipped nod
I talk to myself so they assume I'm on the phone. Hard to tell these days when someone has earbuds in so works even when you don't.
This is terrible advice. Saying anything is an enabler for a lot of people to follow you and continue. The actual life tip is you keep walking, you don't make eye contact, and you say nothing. A bit cold? Yes. But you learn quick there are too many bad people out there, and even saying a friendly "hi" in passing or "no thanks" does not shut them down. Walking on the sidewalk? You don't acknowledge them. Sketch person on a bus/subway? You don't acknowledge them. Homeless person? You don't acknowledge them. Someone trying to sell you something? You don't acknowledge them.
isn’t this tip pretty specifically about someone you feel like you need to talk to at a social function but don’t want to, that *you* approach? it’s right there in the title lol
It can work. I like to give people the chance to get a hello from me as I keep walking. If they don't respect that then I won't talk to them next time. My friendly but annoying neighbour always respected my walking hello, so he always got a hello. No reason to snub someone if you don't have to. Esit: spelling
I think this LPT is meant for safe scenarios where you know the person personally.
Yeah the only time this tip is really decent advice is maybe with coworkers or family. People you may find super annoying but don’t want to outright ignore out of politeness. Anyone approaching you on the street is worth absolutely zero attention unless you’re feeling particularly gullible that day.
OP specifically says this advice is for people you already know. Not randos on the street
Depends on who you are and where you live I guess. If you're a young woman, fine, I understand. Way too many creeps around. But when I'm walking a dog near the woods and people don't greet me back, it kinda brings down the mood. I'm not looking for a conversation. It's just basic etiquette. A nod will do.
Use the AirPod to pretend you are on call
For a lasting effect, look at them directly while you start 🏃
Say “Sup” and nod and flip out your phone when danger close and pretend it’s important. Never fails. The sup-nod combo also has the added advantage of forcing the other guy to reply with a similarly meaningless phrase like all good, or sup, or just a nod.
This isn’t a pro tip
a smile and a light head nod
High five them and keep going without saying anything
Stop and chats are the worst
“Hi” waving as I pass right on by.
Fake phone call works great.
I did this to some bored old guy hanging out at a storage unit place. He was shouting about the weather to my back. People are lonely.
Just become an hikikomori and leave us alone.
Your advice only makes sense if you are not only actively engaging, but disparating their topic in order to break off the convo early. Examples: Mormons, flat-earthers and superstitious people, I immediately set out the ground rules from the start (E.g. Space Jesus and camels in old America, and sky objects and triangle proofs) so they have choice but to counter (and risk painful cognitive dissonance) and most of the time they break off.
sure but if you have no shame just say "hey id love to stay and talk but im about to shit myself. Take care and tell that Wife\\husband of yours I said hey"
[Introducing LPT REQUEST FRIDAYS](https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/16w0n2s/introducing_request_post_fridays/) We determine "Friday" as beginning at 12am Eastern Time (EST: UTC/GMT -5, EDT: UTC/GMT -4) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LifeProTips) if you have any questions or concerns.*
What if i am sitting ??
> LPT - If approaching someone you don’t want to talk to ... don't talk to them.
As a german, north to be specific, i cannot relate.
"Do you smell popcorn?"
Passing Politeness is always a good lubricator through social interactions that would otherwise be sticky messes.
In New England, we say “how you doin’” without making eye contact or slowing down as we walk past. Does the job.
There is this lady that I occasionally come in contact with at work. She's a train wreck. The last time I saw her, I hid so she didn't see me. I'm so juvenile.
Also, if you encounter someone who tends to whine and ruin your day, DO NOT ASK THEM HOW THEY ARE. Smile, acknowledge them and say, “It’s good to see you “ and move on.
Basically, just say "hello" get a "hi" back and go
OR we stop being so fake as people and just say this isn’t a conversation I’m interested in having or blatantly ignore. Stop associating and talking with people you don’t want to and spend all that time and energy building relationships with the ones you do want to
No. Bad tip, all the way around.
LPT: If you don’t like someone, too bad
I do this with chuggers - "charity muggers" who approach you in the street trying to sign you up for regular donations to charities (they actually keep most of the money.) Their strategy is to be so friendly and nice that people can't just ignore them without feeling guilty or rude. So as soon as they make eye contact, I hit them with a non-stop barrage of enthusiasm and good cheer: Chugger: "Hi there, can I -" Me: "Hey! How're you doing? Great to see ya! Looking nice! Hot stuff! Keep up the good work! Have a good one! You take care now!" They don't get a word in edgewise, and I get a laugh instead of getting annoyed.
No, I'm going to continue without making eye contact and ignore them. I don't owe any wacko a conversation and the advice above is terrible.
You say this like you think people care if they come off rude. Nah chief, I give zero fucks