What’s With the Good Morning Thing?

[Sherlock77]

I'm usually too groggy in the morning to even attempt to say much at all... Did anyone say coffee... I need to leave for work at 6:09 AM (I'm that exact), still half asleep even after my coffee and somehow drive to work...

 

[SusanLR]

Looks like the majority agree it is a rather unecessary thing but somewhere in time it became a routine that turned into a form of politeness. I just try not to let it bother me. After all the people I encounter in daily life I have no reason to try to impress. It's just the culture I was born into. Such is life.

 

[Bella Pines]

I mean, does everyone automatically do the good morning thing without thinking? Is this a natural response people have? Or am I making too much of this? Should I just spit out greetings like a robot?

Right there with you.

What a pointless ritual.

I chalk this up as yet another platitude that NTs need to maintain their illusions. They never question it and choose to take offense if other people don't conform to their nonsensical rituals.

I file this along with

• Telling people their hair looks nice after a hair cut even if there is no difference
• Saying happy birthday to people despite the fact that the day bears no physiological significance.
• Saying you're sorry... All. The. Time.
• Laughing at unfunny anecdotes.
• Congratulating people for trivial occurrences.
• Saying "I'm sorry to hear that" when actually you don't give a rat's butt.

And so on and so on.

Yes I do it. I do it every day. Like a robot. I vary the tone of my voice and smile and often prepend sentences with 'oh my gosh'. I say good morning to my co-workers Every. Single. Day.

They don't question anything and their rituals are largely ridiculous. Maybe one day They will wake up and see our zombie sheep society for what it is?

 

[Bella Pines]

Dr Temperance Brennan, on Bones, once did a routine on the Guido tribe at the Jersey shore.)
That greeting was used the same way people use "good morning." It's a verbal acknowledgment of the other person's presence and is an indication of respect. It's often used to get the other person's attention to create an opening for conversation.

Awesome! I love that character!

I'll try to remember this and be more "chipper" tomorrow!

How TV shows try (or choose not) to depict Asperger's syndrome: Sepinwall on TV

 

[StephF]

Amongst the NT tribe it is an expected social convention. You don't have to comply but given that we are pretty much forced to co-exist then maybe it doesn't hurt to nod or return the daily greeting.

Otherwise they will continue to think badly of us as a tribe. What annoys me is when people ask you how you are or wish you a good morning when they really don't care about your response.

 

[SusanLR]

Nod. Yes. That's the most comfortable for me.

I file this along with

• Telling people their hair looks nice after a hair cut even if there is no difference
• Saying happy birthday to people despite the fact that the day bears no physiological significance.
• Saying you're sorry... All. The. Time.
• Laughing at unfunny anecdotes.
• Congratulating people for trivial occurrences.
• Saying "I'm sorry to hear that" when actually you don't give a rat's butt.

Good list. The one on saying you're sorry all the time is a biggie for me. One guy I dated was always telling me that I never say I'm sorry if there was an argument or disagreement. Well, why should I have to say I'm sorry all the time if I'm not?
What I say, I mean. And I'm not sorry I'm that way.

Here's another one for you: Sneeze...God bless you.
That one really gets me in public. It's bad enough I've drawn attention to myself for having to sneeze, let alone have someone bring attention to it with that reply.
If it's someone I know quite well, I'll usually answer back: "If he did, I wouldn't have allergies."

 

[Bella Pines]

I developed a new ritual.

It's customary to say goodbye at the end of the working week. They always say "have a nice weekend" in a chirpy voice that makes me want to slap them. Of course I will have a nice weekend, I'm not at work! But now I don't work Mondays, so when I leave, I smile and say to whoever has pissed me off that week:

"C U Next Tuesday!"

They all put on their fake smiles and wave goodbye. To this day, not a single one of them has figured out the acronym.

 

[JamesBon92007]

Ugh ... this irritates me too.
I hate the "did you sleep well?" question too.

And what the hell does "sleep tight" mean anyway?

 

[Ste11aeres]

I’m wondering if anyone else is bothered or annoyed by this or if I’m just weird in this regard, but I don’t see the point in saying good morning to the same people day after day.

I’m not talking about a stranger I’ve seen on the street and end up saying “Morning” to. I’m not even talking about co-workers that require a morning greeting as some sort of status check.

No, I’m talking about the people I live with. The people I see every single day and who want me to give a greeting as soon as I see them.

When I was a kid, I had to say good morning to my family or they would get offended that I hadn’t greeted them. I couldn’t get up each day and when I saw a family member, just start a talking to them. No! I had to say some sort of morning greeting first.

I have actually never known anybody who required a "good morning" or some sort of greeting from family members or people that they live with. You're not weird in disliking it; considering that it's actually something that most people don't do. I would say that your family is weird in this regard, but you said that the people you live with now also require it, so I don't know why you've had the misfortune of spending your life paired with people who follow this strange custom.

 

[Lady Penelope]

And what the hell does "sleep tight" mean anyway?

"Sleep tight" dates back to when mattresses were held tight with ropes.
If you didn't sleep tight, you sagged to the floor...
Nowadays it means to sleep soundly. I agree, it's horseshit, but there you have it.

Just get up and get on with it I say. Enough of the morning utterances that people say out of blind habit but don't mean. Ask me what I want for breakfast; now *that's* communicating in the morning ... and you'll likely get a favourable response!

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

And what the hell does "sleep tight" mean anyway?

It's when your skin covering is too tight. I.e. It shrinks when you're sleeping
Surely?

 

[fairy_girl]

I mostly just nod my head and get on with my day. Depending on if I am more awake I'll say Hi. I did try saying good morning at 1PM and got chewed out by this neighbor so I stopped saying good morning to people. In my defense I did start walking at 10AM and then it turned into noon...

 

[Chance]

I never provoke a conversation... I also dislike when some says how are you? To me they are forcing an answer out of me...

Sometimes I just grunt, give them the middle finger, smile my crooked grin and move on...
The shock factor is sometimes priceless. : )

 

[puzzlingbill]

"Good morning" involves a value judgement, and it's too damn early for value judgements, particularly if I haven't had coffee yet. "Morning" is a statement of fact.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

I developed a new ritual.

It's customary to say goodbye at the end of the working week. They always say "have a nice weekend" in a chirpy voice that makes me want to slap them. Of course I will have a nice weekend, I'm not at work! But now I don't work Mondays, so when I leave, I smile and say to whoever has pissed me off that week:

"C U Next Tuesday!"

They all put on their fake smiles and wave goodbye. To this day, not a single one of them has figured out the acronym.

Have a nice weekend c****

As long as youre smiling when you say it.
We really should demand a you tube video of you, viral guaranteed!

 

[Alaska]

And we wonder why people give us such a hard time. Greetings are a sacred cow all over the world. True, they make little obvious sense, but ignore them or skip them at your own peril. One who does not give and return greetings is considered a rude, mean, selfish person who does not care about others. Skipping greetings can get you intensely disliked and ostracized. It actually hurts many people when you do not greet them or return them. It is a form of strong rejection.

If you want to get along with other people you just have to figure out a way to do a greeting acceptable both to you and to others. I had several roomates sharing a home in college. I not only hated mornings then, but hated saying good morning, then. When greeted with a cheerful, "Good Morning!" I responded with, something like, "What is good about morning? I don't think it is either good, or morning."

Finally, the most socially savvy roommate talked to me privately. She told me that she and my other roommates were hurt and bothered by my responses to their morning greetings.

I liked my roommates, so was horrified to know how much I was hurting them. I decided that saying or replying, "Morning" was acceptable to me if it was morning, "Afternoon" if that was accurate. My roommates were satisfied with that. They would even check the time and tell me what time it was so I knew whether to say, "Morning" or "Afternoon".

Several people here have mentioned that they do not greet family or others who live with them. They may not complain, but you may be repeatedly hurting the most important people in your lives. Is this harm you are causing, worth not greeting them? You may want to think about this and say something to them.

 

[Gracey]

I think Good Morning is a shortened form of "I wish you a good morning"
Sort of like a blessing, a hope or a wish for the person you're greeting with it.

I'm absolutely speculating here but I'm personally thinking that back in the day, if typhoid, cholera, the plague, T.B or any other nasties didn't take you in your sleep and you were still around to get out of bed, dressed and out of the door to earn a living in a morning, then it was wished that your morning was a good one.

 

[vangelis]

It's all very silly like a lot of NT stuff but easier just to copy them and get on with the rest of your day without any further aggro. Took me a long time to realise when people said "how are you?" they didn't really expect a proper answer.

 

[LucyPurrs]

I'm an NT and I think the greetings are a way to show respect and acknowledge another's presence and sometimes are even genuine. I don't ask someone "How are you?" unless I truly want to know how they are. I don't knee jerk ask this. I don't always use greetings but when I do it's usually because I care about the person and/or just want to acknowledge them in a nice way and show respect. I usually say Good Morning to my internet friend so he will know I'm thinking of him. You can always just say Hi or nod or smile in response if you don't want to wish someone a good morning.

 

[Butterfly88]

I don't like the whole good morning thing because for me many mornings are not good and I feel like I have to lie. Sometimes when people close to me say good morning sometimes I'll answer "what's so good about it?". That's not the answer they were looking for or the socially appropriate one though.