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Small win: Got 3 neighbors to wave back by waving first every day for 2 weeks
Moved to a new block in Portland 3 months ago and nobody would even look at me. Felt like a ghost. So I made it my mission to wave at every single person I saw outside, even if they ignored me. After 14 days straight, Mrs. Chen across the street finally waved back. Now 3 of them do it and one guy even said 'mornin' yesterday. Has anyone else cracked a stubborn neighborhood by just refusing to give up on being friendly?
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the_riley18d agoMost Upvoted
That 'mornin' part is what got me, honestly. I read somewhere that consistency like that actually rewires how your brain sees social risk, so after 2 weeks it stops feeling like you're putting yourself out there. @the_cole, I feel you on the arm workout part, but once you break that first person it gets easier because they almost feel obligated to wave back to keep the streak going. Mrs. Chen probably cracked because she realized you weren't going to stop being weird about it, so she had to give in.
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the_cole19d ago
Waving at strangers is basically my cardio these days, at least my arm gets a workout since nobody waves back.
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