I live in a small neighborhood in downtown Boston. We’ve been in our house for thirteen years, I’ve gone to school at one time or another with most of the kids in the neighborhood, and both my parents work full-time within a ten minute walk of our house.

Every time I walk down our little main street, I see at least three or four people I know. And when I turn to them, smile, and say hello... they, for the most part, keep on walking.

It’s a horrible phenomenon. I’ve had a nice conversation at a Christmas party with people just to have them ignore me at the supermarket the next day. I’ve had people whom I’ve been introduced to more than once re-introduce themselves to me like we’ve never met. My father, a heart surgeon, saves people’s lives — and two weeks later, they breeze by him on the street like they’ve never laid eyes on him before! My parents think it’s a superiority complex; if someone acts like they don’t know you, it implies that so many people want their attention that they can’t remember everyone’s name!

When I graduated from high school, I thought college would be better; Bostonians, after all, are notoriously grumpy. Certainly with geographic diversity, somebody would know how to behave. Maybe some friendly Southerners or at least a few Midwesterners in the mix?

So, I get to college (which is, granted, only two hours from Boston), and guess what? I’ve been in the hallway with only one other person, and when I said hello, that person turned away from me. Another time, I was struggling to find my ID in my purse to let myself into my dorm. The inside door has glass panes (read: you can see through it). There was a guy standing right behind the door, probably six inches away from where I was standing — and instead of opening the door for me, he turned around and walked away.

I held my hand out in front of my face to make sure that I wasn’t, in fact, invisible. Who knew that Moncler jackets are not invisibility cloaks? They should really put that on the tag at Barney’s!

Is it really that hard to say hi? It can’t be. It’s not even a full syllable, and it’s the right thing to do! When we ignore each other, we make each other feel invisible. The scary part, I think, is that everybody — at home and at school — probably isn’t saving their bad behavior for me.

When I was in Nashville a few weeks ago, I got a taste of Southern hospitality. Not only did people say hello, they held doors and pulled out chairs for women at restaurants. I was in awe of their kindness, I was a little bit worried that they were trying to steal my wallet. Turns out, they had no malicious intentions at all — just a really firm code of conduct that makes life a whole lot more pleasant!

So, coming home to Boston, I decided I wasn’t going to take it anymore. I was going to force all these people to say hi. I call it Operation Manners. I would just say hello so that they couldn’t ignore me! I started off on my walk to do some errands. Okay, so someone slammed the door in my face at the post office. But on the way back, I saw a couple I knew from the neighborhood. When I saw them, they looked like they were going to turn away. So I called them out — by name! And although it was like pulling teeth for them, they stopped to talk to me.

So, I challenge you all to just say hi. Say hi to just one person. Maybe even throw in a “how are you?” if you’re feeling generous. Be kind, people!