Sir, – Chris Dorgan (Letters, July 11th) is concerned at the apparent decline in the exchange of casual greetings between passing strangers that was commonplace when he was young. I know what he means but, as a dog walker myself, I would have expected that he would at least receive a response from fellow dog walkers on his early morning strolls with the family mutt.
When out with my own canine companion, my progress is generally slow, due in part to the fact that she wags her tail and gazes so endearingly up at every passing human – with or without a dog – that they succumb to her charms and shower her with compliments. If they have a dog, I reciprocate.
Conversation about the weather, etc, may then ensue. Were it not for my dog, I suspect I would become largely invisible. There is also a generational component involved and at this stage, based on their vintage, I can judge fairly well whether the person coming towards me would be familiar with the “howya-howya” relationship which Dorgan refers to.
Although it can be disconcerting when one’s greeting is met with blank indifference, and you might wonder whether you should just throw in the towel and simply say goodbye to “hello”, my advice is don‘t give up. There are still quite a few of us out there who will be more than happy to reply. – Yours, etc,
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KATHERINE QUIRKE
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – In response to the letter lamenting the decline of “saluting” in Cork, I can confirm that here in west Cork it is very much alive and well.
Spending a good deal of my time in the UK, it is so refreshing to come home and, when passing acquaintances and complete strangers in the street, be given a friendly acknowledgment of kinship.
There are also vehicle salutations: when you get past Bandon do not forget to give a “reck” by briefly lifting your index finger from the wheel to salute oncoming motorists. Then by the time you are fully west in Skibbereen it will come naturally and undoubtedly you will get a friendly reck back.
In west Cork it is common knowledge that small gestures generate happiness. If enough people contribute it will carry on for generations to come and, who knows, it may even migrate back to Cork City. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN CROSS
Baltimore,
Co Cork.
Sir, – Howya. Chris Dorgan wonders if greeting passing strangers is in decline. Growing up in Dublin in my teens and 20s (I am now 69) it was acceptable to exchange howyas with strangers – once there was no one else in the near vicinity. It was almost code for “hi, I’m no threat to you”.
When I moved to the Netherlands in my late 20s I took this custom with me. I was soon to learn, however, that greeting a stranger there, no matter what the circumstances, gave rise to a blank, almost shocked look. If I greeted a couple, I could sense their exchange once we passed: “Do you know him?” “No, you?” “No. He must be mad.”
On my return to Ireland to the wee county of Louth in my mid-40s, I was happy to find the “howya-howya” as alive as ever. I’m back in Dublin now these last three years, and the howyas live on – boosted, I suspect, by the loneliness that accompanied Covid.
So while it may be debatable whether saluting a stranger is less (or more) prevalent than it was in the past, we can be happy in the knowledge that it lives on as a defining difference in our culture.
And long may that continue. – Yours, etc,
HUGH McDONNELL
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9.
