What do you do when you see a friend or acquaintance walking toward you about 100 feet away?

Jack Kelly: It depends on who it is. If it’s a friend you just give a wave, a head nod, a ‘What’s up,’ one of those things, and just keep walking.

Michael Murphy: If it’s a ‘What’s up,’ do you shout ‘What’s up,’ actually say, ‘What’s up,’ or just mouth ‘What’s up?’

Jack: Well, I am talking about if you’re going to pass somebody so you see them and are like, ‘All right, I am going to say, ‘What’s up,’ to this person.’

Michael: What happens if you are on opposite sides of the street and are walking in the same direction, and it’s somebody you like but don’t like that much?

Jack: I would probably just keep walking. You can’t be expected to be aware of people across the street. What would you do?

Michael: Sometimes I just change my direction and go the other way because I don’t want to deal with that awkwardness. I feel like a lot of the time if you do cross the street, you are expected to go beyond a simple ‘What’s up’ and dive into a conversation that would just go nowhere. So sometimes I just act like I don’t see somebody.

Jack: The iPod and cell phone can come in handy when you don’t want to talk to somebody. You can easily whip out your phone and pretend you’re texting or talking to somebody.
Michael: I have done that a few times. Like when I see somebody that I do not care for I will resort to taking something out of my pocket and act like it is a cell phone. Sometimes maybe I’ll take my laptop out of my backpack and walk down the street and act like I am doing work on it while walking.

Jack: Well that’s a little obvious, just kind of a slap in the face.

Michael: I think it’s worth it because there are certain people who are awkward and there are certain people who you don’t even know well, yet always seem to engage in conversation no matter what.

Jack: I can see the changing of route with someone whose name you don’t know. Like someone you talk to but never find out their name or who they are.

Michael: That’s the worst, especially when I am the person whose name they don’t know. Whenever it happens to me and I’m around my friends, I will be talking to them and wave another one of my friends over and have them introduce themselves to each other. Then I sort of take a step back.

Jack: I have never thought of that. Never employed that tactic.

Michael: It doesn’t always work out though because sometimes they’ll expect you to introduce them to each other.

Jack: That’s when you just say, ‘All right you got me. I don’t know who you are.’

Michael: Cat’s out of the bag. I don’t know your name.