Why do some people only acknowledge you when they want something?

Genuine friends always acknowledge one another. They give freely in offering hospitality or assistance, and they accept with gratitude - knowing that the generosity they receive will be repaid in full measure during their on-going friendship.

We rarely acknowledge the unknown people we pass in a crowded the street. There are just too many of them. Generally speaking we neither want, nor expect, anything from them beyond common decency and respect.

You work in retail, and you no doubt believe that you acknowledge your customers, without scruple whilst giving general assistance and cultured courtesy. But do you treat all your customers that way, simply because it is a fundamental facet of your personality, or is it because you are paid to do so by your employers, who expect you to maximise the profits made from each and every paying customer who passes through their door?

You WANT the profit to be made, YOU want your wages, and they are both supplied at the expense of the customer who does not get what they want unless they pay more for the goods than the seller paid for them in the first place.

When you are going home from the store, I wonder how many beggars in need, or charity collectors, you find time to “acknowledge”, with the same generosity that you afford to your friends, or the patient and effulgent courtesy that you give to your customers?

“… Being nice only to get something is phony in my opinion. I’m just venting.”

Me too.