Originally Posted by grolby

Rude? I would say that "rude" is a complete stranger saying "Hello" to me when I'm just trying to mind my own damn business and get to work, then getting bent out of shape when I don't feel like returning the greeting. I'm not out there to validate your existence.

I don't know you. It's unreasonable and impolite to put me on the spot and expect me to be social, then decide that I'm "rude" because I don't feel like pretending that I'm your friend. You're reading too much into it. People have all kinds of reasons for not greeting you. Most of the time, it's going to be because they're thinking their own thoughts and aren't expecting, planning or wanting to have to make a social connection with a stranger whilst on their way to work, or the store, or just riding along. It has nothing to do with what kind of company they are, whether they donate to charitable organizations, or what they think of your bike, clothes or hair.

For the record, if another rider were to greet me on my commute, I would probably return it; I'm usually up for a hello. I'm usually not up for chatting at stoplights. What bothers me is the assumption that, if I'm not feeling like interacting with someone, that it's because I'm a jerk, or rude or whatever. It's stupid, and again, it's presumptuous to think that the other riders out there are obligated to validate your existence. But you're just another guy on a bike.

So far, by the way, none of the other commuters on my route have greeted me, or vice versa. This is one of those things that is only a problem on BF, from what I can tell.