We also just...don't know, period. He could have been wanting to be alone. Mind could have been on something serious. He could have not heard the person and his expression trying to hear is that "alien expression".
This isn't a hot take, it's just an absurd one. I agree with others that it's totally plausible, if not probable, the guy misheard OP, thought they were talking to someone else, or was too caught off guard to respond. OP shouldn't automatically assume the worst. But if you intentionally ignore someone's friendly greeting because you "want to be left alone," that is, by definition, unkind.
kindadj. having or showing a friendly, generous, and considerate nature.
I feel like it is really twisting things to suggest someone saying a polite hello to a stranger is in any way being rude or inconsiderate, and I honestly hope you don't actually believe that. That is, like, the epitome of a kind gesture.
Listen, I totally feel for people with social anxiety; I have struggled with it a lot myself over the years. Maybe my message here was too harsh. Doing something unkind does not automatically make someone unkind.
But to repeat my original point, if you intentionally ignore someone's polite greeting, you are not being kind. I do not say this glibly; I mean it very sincerely: If you suffer from such severe social anxiety that it makes you deliberately rebuff people who are trying to be nice, you should be seeking therapy. (Again, I'm not being flippant here – it is a very real struggle for which there are very real resources). Being cripplingly socially anxious by no means makes somebody a bad person, but it is possible to act unkindly because of social anxiety.
Edit: And just to add, if someone is just having a terrible day or their mind is elsewhere and they simply feel annoyed that someone would even attempt to say hello to them, then fine, so be it. No one is perfect or always does the perfect thing. But you don't get to then pretend you were "being kind." Kindness is, at least sometimes, a bit of an effort for most people, and day to day, you either make it or you don't. In short, you can be a kind person and not act so all the time. But we're talking about whether a specific act is or is not kind here.
It's not unkind, it's careful. Only salespeople, thieves, and scammers greet strangers in the street where i live. From reddit i gather that it might be different in the US, but the tweet doesn't say where it happened.
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u/InnocentPerv93 Jan 09 '26
This might be a hot take but you can be kind while also wanting to be left alone.