if a stranger waved to you would you wave back ??

I actually have. My kids wave to people we don't know all the time. There is a man who works for a tax company here in my town. He was been walking up and down the busy intersection in front of the company for the last 6 months. We wave every time we drive by. He looks just like Uncle Sam.

I would be very surprised if he had waved at me. No, I would not wave back if he had waved at me alone. If he had waved at anyone who passed by, I might waved back as basic courtesy. I am a rather careful person and would not want to find myself ending up in any embarassing or awkward position by being too friendly :P

Aww I would have done the same thing wee, in fact I've done it so many times. Back home while travelling by train we cross many small towns and villages, children wave and their face lights up when we wave back. They get all excited and eave harder..hehe! That is a sight to see:) It makes them happy which makes me happy. When kids are waving I definitely wouldn't think twice before waving back:)

I would definitely wave back to someone waving at me, especially kids. When my son was little, waving to people in other cars was often the only thing that made a long trip bearable. He would wave to everyone and especially loved when the truck drivers would honk their horns to him in response.

Hi Weemam I agree I would have waved back as well, Here is another thing I do, If when I am walking down the street and it is not busy, and some one is coming toward me, I will say good morning or good whatever time of the day it is, If I am standing at the bus stop I will comment about the weather as well. Some people do not respond, but I would say that 90% do. and I also include all age groups in my greetings. I know it is a crazy world out there, but little ones have to be taught that there good people as well as the people they have been taught to avoid, If they avoid every one they will and have grown up into the shy and lost all social skills adults that we see today.

Yes, I do wave back. I live in the same (relatively small) community all my life. It isn't uncommon for people down here to wave at people they don't know just as a friendly gesture. Sometimes we even go so far as to say, "Hi, how ya doin'?" I think it would be rude if I ignored them or didn't acknowledge them... that doesn't mean we become fast friends. It's just an act of kindness.

I always wave back when I see this as it is nice to acknowledge friendly people, especially when it is children. Living in London it is rare for this to happen!! What we used to do when driving was beep at people walking past and wave. They would automatically wave back thinking they knew us. Then we would see their look of confusion when they realised they didn't know us. Innocent fun I guess!!

Living mostly in rural areas all of my life, this is like natural habit for me. Where I live now, if you DIDN'T wave they'd think something was wrong or out of place. I have lived in large cities, big towns, and small villages. I love the rural life because of the friendliness. As a small child, I remember waving at all of the truck drivers when my mom drove anywhere. Especially on I-75. LOL Crazy kids.

i always wave at anyone who waves their hands at me.i feel i should return their lovely gesture.well i would feel bad when a person does not return when i wave my hands at them.and i feel it was very nice of both you and your hubby to wave your hands at them.

I grew up in a very small town and everyone waved..it was just the polite thing to do..then I moved to a small city and I always waved at everyone I knew or not..as kids we thought it was a happy response to seeing someone..then I moved to the BIG city..and I still wave at the children or an adult that might need acknowledging..but waving around here gets you paranoid people thinking you are being smart or sassy..or somehow criticizing them...in the area I live in I, of course, do wave at all the neighbors and friends...and when I get those cute little hand waving at me anywhere I wave back and they giggle and wave even more excitedly!!

I figure you might as well wave to people if they wave first. They may just be trying to be friendly, or perhaps thought you were someone else. It is rude to not respond to people when they wave or acknowledge your presence somehow, and you are right to think about your children or grandchildren in that regard, because kids can be so cruel and if your grands or even kids are still in school, they may be the people who don't have people wave back at them when they speak or may be the people to not speak when strangers say hello.

I do wave at strangers who wave at me. I just think it is human nature to wave back to them. After I wave though I turn to who I am with or ask myself if I am alone, "Do you know that person"? Usually my husband has done work for the person and then I am glad I was friendly towards them.

I have experienced this and i waved back to find that some other person behind me was also waving.So,if you don't know the person,i think now on i would look behind first to see if there's no one waving also in case if some adults are waving.But for kids waving at me,i think there's no problem with that,i would also wave back,just for fun :)

hahahaah! funny thing is that i would've.. in my mind, i wouldn't but when it comes to the real thing, i know i would.. i mean i don't know, but maybe my arms have some kind of an automatic response when someone waves at me, a smile i can ignore...barely..hahahahahaah...but a wave is just irresistable...for me... hahaahahahh!

Oh for a start I am happy that you did not get lost today!! Yes of course when I see children waving I always wave back and it makes me feel good that I could of brighten their day, and if it was my children when they were young then I would of felt good with other drivers doing the same.

I would have waved at them also. I think it developes good social skills for the children. I work for a company that has a lot of foreign workers who don't speak English. Many of the people just walk by them as if they were invisible because they can't communicate with them. You'd be surprised how effective a wave can be to these people. You'll see the biggest smile on their faces because someone just tried to communicate with them through a wave. Lloyd

If its children waving at me, then I will wave back at them. If its a stranger who's giving me a leery look and waving at me, then I will run...LOL! Seriously, a lot of sickos are waving at me here in my country. That is why I try to avoid going to some unknown places here. :)

To me the weekends are made for drives in the country. I find that in town people are in such a hurry to get nowhere. Once out in the country people wave and we always smile and wave back. I think it is the way the whole world should be. It is such a small world and the more people we reach out to in even such a small gesture the better off we will be as a society. So my hats off to you for brightening my day. I also notice when riding the train through peoples yards they all smile and wave and the people in the train wave back. I think it is just a nice part of human nature.

Yes I would wave there is no harm in being nice. Especially at a child. A wave and a smile what a nice free gift

Yes, I always wave back anytime someone waves at me, reguardless if I know them or not. My thinking is it's just plain common courtsey to wave at someone that is waving at you! It seems so rude to not wave back, I mean how simple is that! And you don't know, that might be all it takes to make someone's day just a little better!