As a man’s salutations, so is the total of his character; in nothing do we lay ourselves so open as in our manner of meeting and salutation.

How someone greets you is a small event that carries a lot. Whether they look up, whether they use your name, whether the warmth is aimed at you or performed for the room: these take two seconds and are almost impossible to fake consistently. Over months the pattern of a person’s hellos tells you roughly how they regard other people.

Give your next twenty greetings your actual attention, one at a time, and see how much of your day changes. Watch particularly how you greet the people who can do nothing for you.