Readers respond to a perplexed suburbanite

Dear Readers: A recent query from “Perplexed in Suburbia” asked why people under the age of 50 don’t return friendly “hellos.”

I posited that this might be a regional issue, but also asked readers if my generation has raised a generation of “rude-niks.”

The responses flowed in, and I am sharing a representative sample.

While every theory suggested is valid, I think it’s vital to understand that we never really know what others are going through, which is a great reason to be friendly, regardless of the reaction.

Dear Amy: At our family’s rural retreat strangers wave VIGOROUSLY from their cars and trucks when encountered on the roads.

In our closely spaced prosperous cul de sac in the DC suburbs, every encounter is a chilly non-event.

I’d say the dynamic isn’t generational. People in urban neighborhoods don’t want to risk taking on new relationships too carelessly … they ain’t got the time! But out in rural-ville, loneliness is the threat.

— Dave in Bethesda, MD

Dear Dave: I hear you.

Dear Amy: I live in a city high-rise, and I have noticed that most young people getting on the elevator behave as though there’s no one else in there! But I don’t think it’s the way they were raised.

I think many people at an earlier stage of life haven’t quite realized that we are here only for a short time, and that even the most fortunate among us have sorrows, fears, worries and disappointments, and that we can ease each other’s way even slightly, with acknowledgment and kindness.