How do you answer the question, "How are you?" or "What's up?" in the short time it takes to pass someone on Grounds?
Students constantly are running around to make their next class, meeting or social event. This jam-packed schedule sometimes forces them to ask gratuitous questions just to be polite and to give short, forced answers to a question that could take about half an hour to answer.
After all, if a student is having a horrible day, she is not going to pour her heart out to any acquaintance who asks how her day is going as the two pass each other on the way to Cabell.
"I never completely ignore them," fourth-year Commerce student Emily Center said. "I just shoot out the 'fine' every time even if I'm not, because what do you say? No one ever answers you back."
Some students get frustrated because they feel they are expected to stop and have a long conversation, while others don't even stop to acknowledge their greeters.
"I've had some days where I don't say anything because people get on my nerves," first-year College student Destini Easley said.
Instead of ignoring their greeters, other students have a set formula for how they respond to a standard Grounds salutation.
"I just think it's appropriate to always just give a smile and a courtesy wave," fourth-year College student Cameron Blair said.
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