The "drive-by" hello

Those of you who have worked with me know I can be somewhat anti-social in the a.m. hours. It's typically during those hours that I am most productive and, consequently, least receptive to "interpersonal interruptions." That being the case, the person who shows up at my desk at 8:30 a.m. on a Monday wanting to rehash my weekend can be an outright, albeit well meaning, annoyance.

There is an interesting phenomenon here at LandAmerica, what I call the "drive-by hello." I'll be in my corporate cubicle busily working (or typing this blog as the case may be) and behind me I'll he a random, "Hello, Grant." I turn around to see who is there and to acknowledge them, but they're gone. Given the height of the cube walls I can't see who may be leaving the scene to even infer who the helloer might have been. And it's multiple people, not just the same person. I can tell by the timbre of their voice and the Doppler effect in their pitch. So, I've pretty much given up trying to figure out who is saying hello, I just say "hello" back to whomever is within earshot and go about my business.