Greetings - A basic element of character portrayal This thread is about examples of how greeting is used to protray a character, a setting, or an event. It is probably not necessary to have a hard definition, but by a greeting, I mean a signal from one agent (the one greeting) that acknowledges the presence of another agent (the one being greeted). It follows that from a greeting, the player could learn the role of the greeter, the relation between the greeter and the greeted, and also the situation or the environment where the greeting takes place. The greeting itself could be verbal, non-verbal or a mix of signals. These are the topics of this thread and I want to discuss topics using examples. The style of this thread could be used to discuss other basic elements of portrayal. But we shall restrict the topic to only greetings.

Greeting of a pet dog

She was lying on the floor in bordom when the sound of keys was first heard
outside the door. Her chin jolted off the floor. Her ears were fixed to the
sound source. Her eyes were also fixed, as if she could see the dingling keys
behind the door.

The sound of the inserting key was as loud as a thunder to her. She dashes
to the entrance, and barked with an excitement she could not contain. The
door opened and she confirmed that her owner had returned. She spinned and
spinned while watching her owner's face. She was so excited that she was
losing control of her legs and her breath.

This same scene must have happened for a thousand times. But she had not
grown used to it. Each time was exciting. Each time was worth celebrating.

Greeting of a Girl Scout

They were inevitable as they had set a table in front of the grocery store.
I wouldn't have identified them as the girl scouts if they had not mentioned
"girl scout cookies" as they advertised to the customers. The scene was very
different from what I would imagine.

First, I didn't see any uniform. I thought they would have green berets,
shirts and skirts. Instead they were wearing an empty carboard box that
contained the boxes of girl scout cookies.

Second, they looked too young. They looked like the little trick-o-treaters.
I was never a boy scout, but I wondered what they would do at their camps in
the wood, as I would not feel safe letting any of them handle a knife.

Third, don't girl scouts sell homemade cookies? Because I was skeptical of
the scene, I looked online afterward and learned that girl scout cookies
were indeed manufactured. It was probably more efficient and cleaner to mass
produced girl scout cookies. But the conflict between the reality and my
impression was so great that I didn't want to think about it. I thought girl
scouts were closer to nature than to the commercial world.

"Would you like to buy girl scout cookies?"

The girl scout in cardboard box asked me in front of the table, where her
mom and the moms of other scouts were supervising. I smiled at her cute face
and waved my hand saying "Hi!"

The little girl waved back at me in response.

Greeting of a cashier

When customer walks in:
"Hi, welcome to ____!"

When customer checks out:
"Did you find everything okay?"

When customer buys two jeans:
"Only two jeans? No T-shirt? No belt?"

(Role-Specific Informational)
"Your total comes to $____."

When customer leaves:
"Thank you for shopping at _____!"

Greeting of someone looking for a colleague

Knock knock.

"Hi..., I'm looking for ___."
"He had just left."
"Oh ok."
(She looks around and took a bottle of water from his desk."
"If he asks please tell him that I took it...

... I am his wife."
"Nice to meet you."

Greeting of two bicycle riders going in opposite direction

Rider 1 gave a hand gesture and a smile to Rider 2. Rider 2 did the same.
The two riders passed each other on the opposite lane. Rider 1 slowed
down because he sensed that the other rider was slowing down. He looked
back and saw that the Rider 2 had slowed down to an almost stop.

The distance had exceeded the normal distance to converse, with both
riders clearly heading the opposite direction. The simple greeting was not
enough.

Rider 2 shouted, "Come back to practice!"

Rider 1 replied, "Maybe next quarter!"