Random anecdote, COVID re-enforced my neighborhood walking as a exercise I could do while avoiding enclosed spaces. During my walks I always greet the people I

Random anecdote, COVID re-enforced my neighborhood walking as a exercise I could do while avoiding enclosed spaces. During my walks I always greet the people I meet with a "Good morning", "Good Afternoon", Etc. I consistently got suspicion when I started doing this. People would either not respond or have some non-committal response. I would just smile and keep walking. Generally after the second, or at most third, time people would figure out that I wasn't wanting anything, just being neighborly. They would start responding back with smiles and similar greetings. After a year of walking around saying "Hi" to folks people would start going out of their way to respond and would often add simple exchanges about the weather or the news. The mailman, of all people, who I would wave to and say "Hi" to told me one day that ever since I started walking around and greeting people the neighborhood had become "more friendly and nice." I doubt it was just my doing but I do know people smile more and wave and certainly part of it is they aren't fearing death by disease any day now, and part is that they like it. I appreciate that I know a lot more of my neighbors.