Recently I have had the opportunity to house sit on Wisconsin Avenue near the main shopping street of Georgetown for 2 weeks. Here's what I saw and learned.
Circumstance:
Whenever leaving a situation in doubt say "Have a good evening/day." (1)
When stuck in the presence of some one for more than a brief pass ask "How are you doing?" or "Have a good day?" and then when they reply " good, and yourself?"
you reply " good, thanks". (smiling while replying is not necessary all the time and may be seen as contrived and insincere)
If for some reason they sigh or say "meh..." tell them that you hope their day get's better.
Observation:
This is the very distinct line that is never crossed or forgotten when in the city. One can safely never go wrong with any of those platitudes. If you should so choose not to say any of them you can almost guarantee that it will be viewed as a cold, egocentric, and uncivilized.
(1) The question "How are you doing?" can be seen as more of an intrusive because it's open ended so be careful to only use that with some one whom you've seen more than twice and are sure recognizes that they have seen you more than twice too.
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These observations make me giggle. I hate how boxed in small talk is. I wish the US was more like south america sometimes, where in alot of spanish speaking countries (venezuela comes to mind for some reason) people talk in closer proximity and are much more physically and verbally friendly even if they don't know each other that well. If you see someone you know, you WILL have a real conversation with them. = )
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