500 words in 24 hours

Suzanne Ward

A122 #8423

Joseph Cleveland

February 8, 2020

Greetings Assignment

I was sitting in Soma Cafe, when a young white woman in her early twenties with blonde

hair walked in accompanied by a young white man with black hair also in his early twenties. The

young woman was wearing tennis shoes, leggings and a puffy grey winter jacket, while the

young man was wearing a green sweater, navy jeans and converse. They were meandering

towards the ordering stand while looking out into the room when they both let out a gasp and

opened their mouths. They both raised one hand and wiggled their fingers while their eyes were

fixated on something in the distance. I looked towards where their eyes were fixated and saw a

young white woman also in her early twenties stand up from a table and begin to walk briskly

towards them. The young woman had brown hair and was looking directly at them with a smile

on her face. The woman by the ordering stand began to walk quickly towards the brown haired

woman as well, her facial expression breaking into a smile as she raised her arms up. The brown

haired woman raised her arms up too and they both hugged.

“HI!” exclaimed the brown haired woman.

“How are you!” said the blonde haired woman.

They both let their arms fall and the blonde haired woman stepped backward.

“When is your signing?” asked the blonde haired woman.

“It’s tonight.”

“Wow that’s crazy.”

“How’s the job?” continued the blonde haired woman.

“It’s a job.” replied the brown haired woman, still with a smile on her face.

They then moved towards the line to join up with the young man so the blonde haired woman

could order, all the while continuing to talk.

Thus, from my observations it seemed like the two women were older students at IU who

were friends but were not expecting to run into each other that afternoon. I assumed they were

students from IU because they were both college age. Additionally, I assumed they held a

relationship because the blonde haired woman acknowledged the other woman as soon as she

saw her. However, the fact that she gasped when she saw her made it clear that she was not

expecting to see her.

Firstly, their interactions revealed quite a bit about the norms of American greetings as a

whole. For one, their interaction showed that it is expected if you run into someone who hold a

relationship with, you acknowledge them. Also their interaction showed that American greetings

follow a specific sequence of events. First, one individual performs a gesture of

acknowledgement (usually a hand wave or raise). Then, both individuals perform phatic

language (“HI!” and “How are you!”). Next, one individual says a prompting question or remark

(“When is your signing?” and “How is your job?”). And then the two unfold a conversation

about topics that spring off the initial prompting question or remark.

Additionally, analyzing the interactions also allowed me to see the social business that

took place. Firstly, both individuals identified themselves as friends by delivering their phatic

language in an intentional way. They both used very high pitches when exclaiming the phatic

phrases of “HI!” and “How are you!” to show that they were excited and pleased to see the other,

which identified them as the other’s friend. Additionally, they both wrapped their arms around

the other which established that they feel close to the other, once again identifying them as

friends. Additionally, the tone of the conversation also performed social business. The tone was

friendly and relaxed, which established that they were peers and shared an equal amount of

power in their relationship.

And lastly, analyzing the interaction made me realize American greetings hold

similarities with the greetings of the Tuareg from our reading “Greetings in the Desert” by

Youssouf. In the reading, Youssouf explained that the Tuareg initiate a conversation with phatic

language. Also, Youssouf explained that the way the phatic language is delivered communicates

information to the receiver. Thus, by observing this interaction I was able to see that Americans

also engage in phatic language by saying “Hi!” and “How are you!”. Additionally, the way we

deliver this phatic language also provides information to the listener. In terms of the young

women, they both used high pitches and arranged their facial expressions into smiles when

performing their phatic language. Performing the phatic language in this way communicated the

message that they were pleased to see the other woman and identified as their friend. Thus,

American culture also uses phatic language to initiate conversation and the way the phatic

language is delivered communicates information to the recipient similar to the Tuareg.