I had the grill out this evening... (Lisa put a little olive oil, salt and pepper on some Sword Fish steaks and I smoke/ grilled them up. The recipe we were looking at called for salsa on top, but (and this will shock those of you that know me) I ate the whole thing without any kind of topping. CrAzY good.)
Anyway, I had the grill out this evening (we had the fish with a side salad from the butter lettuce from our CSA share)... Sorry, ok, so as I was manning the grill our neighbor across the street backed his jeep out (Lisa and I don't like Radishes at all, the beets were ok... felt like they were missing something. Will have to research that...), sorry, story, right. Backed his jeep out and then got out and was heading towards his garage he saw me there and in typical "guy communication" nodded to me. He kind of did the "downward nod". I acknowledged his "downward nod" with an "upward nod".
This got me to thinking (how long should I marinade the jerky I plan on making this weekend? Which flavors should I try?) about "the nods". Do "downward nods" and "upwards nods" essentially mean the same thing? Does "downward" mean you're more humble? Does the upward give the impression that you are a gangster... or at least a wanna be gangster? What did I just convey to the guy across the street with my "upwards nod"? Is he going to start locking his door at night because I gave him the "upward nod"? In this city of so many Christian people is the "downward" (humble) nod more 'in vogue'? Did I just convey that I was some heathen? Maybe I need to practice my nods...
So anyway, as I stood over my expensive Grill/ Smoker carrying on a manly tradition I partook in another one. The greeting without words conveyed in a nod.. and then proceeded to think about it for the next 20 minutes. (as I sat and read the obituaries) Strange evening.
~B.
Whatever you did is infinitely better than the 'repeated sideways head-twitch nod'.
ReplyDeleteLet me know what you figure out for the beets. We felt like ours were kind of lacking in something too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joel, I almost have come to expect the out of the box thinking.
ReplyDeleteKatie: I'll see what I can do.
~Ben
I use the downward nod as the initiating greeting, and the upward nod as the response.
ReplyDeleteI am all about the upward nod! but whats wrong with a wave?
ReplyDeleteAmy - One hand on the grill, another on the tongs, what do you have left? The head.
ReplyDeleteAnd the social norms for wagging your left foot at someone haven't really kicked in yet.
~Ben
I tend to lean towards using the downward nod for informal greeting... more of an acknowledgment of one's presence. And the upward nod for friendlier recognition... like saying hello vs whats up.
ReplyDeleteOf course this is all trumped by my favorite non verbal greeting. Taping the side of the nose ala the great movie 'The Sting'