Two older Asian men give me very unexpected responses to my greetings: the first is a fellow at Rainier and Forest.
"Hi!" That's me, greeting him.
"Hi."
"How are you?"
"Good how're you?" he says in a thick accent.
"Good."
"You're very handsome," he says harshly, in a tone of dictatorial approval, without missing a beat. I laugh.
The second is a senior at Dearborn. I'm not expecting him to speak English. I greet him anyways, so he feels comfortable. I greet everybody. Tone of voice carries as much meaning as the words themselves. "Good afternoon," I say, expecting silence.
"Whassup my brudder!" he replies.