Where I’m working now, there is a security guard in the lobby, not a receptionist. I greet him when I come in – it’s his job to see me, and it’s polite for me to acknowledge him.
But when leaving, he’s usually looking at his computer screen (Lord, he must be one of the most bored souls on earth! I hope he’s allowed to watch entertaining stuff!) so if I catch his eye to say, “Good night,” I’m kinda interrupting him.
Should I just walk past, as if he’s invisible? That seems rude, but is it preferable to drawing him out of what he’s doing just for a meaningless social ritual?
I try to “Golden Rule” it, and can’t figure the answer. Which would you prefer?
I pass the guards every day when I’m leaving. I look at them, and if they make eye contact, then I say “Have a good night” If they don’t, then I don’t.
I’d say good night. If he seems irritated, you can stop, but my experience has been that a lot of people act like they’re above the front desk folks. The front desk folks generally appreciate common courtesy and there have been times when a friendly relationship has paid off for me. Never hurts to be friendly.
Sounds good: I’ll go with the manners I learned at my mama’s knee (and other low joints) and do the “friendly” thing. If I ever catch him frowning, I’ll reconsider!
I always talk to the guards. I want a good working relationship with them, for if things happen to go pear-shaped. They are my natural allies, after all.
But then again, I do work in a maximum security prison.
I don’t work in a high security prison, but IME they are nonetheless very good people to know. It doesn’t take much kindness on your part for you to be someone far above the general population in their eyes. And they can do stuff for you. You want to park in the loading dock on the weekend? No problem. You want to bring something big through the foyer when that’s not allowed? No problem, I’ll even hold the door open. Etc.
I get off work at midnight which is their shift change. Depending on what’s going on, I’ll say goodnight. If they’re busy with paperwork, I won’t.
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I have often wondered what I would do with a job like that, be it security or a parking lot ticket booth or whatever, one of those “two things to do every hour” kind of jobs.
I think I’d write a novel or something, if I was allowed that leeway.
I agree with “don’t overthink it” as well. With one additional pondering that I would recommend. Some people who ask questions like this, don’t realize that they have built a set of categories for all the humans around them, and have made separate assumptions about all of them, such that they think (for example here) of Security People as being an entirely different KIND of human being than they are themselves.
In short, I would recommend that you take a look at whether you are deciding to act like a fellow human being to others, depending on their job description or status, or not.
I personally TRY to actively think of everyone as just other people. So if I want to say “good night” or whatever to each person I come across on my way home, I will do so, whether they are staring at a screen and ignoring me or not. On the days where I’m wrapped up in my own thoughts, I might not say anything to anyone.
A few of the security guards here at the hospital know me after years on the job and we often exchange greetings.
A bigger etiquette dilemma: do I acknowledge the K-9 German shepherd who (for some strange reason) has been patrolling indoors for the past year or two? I don’t want to distract a working dog and would never think of trying to pet him, but the other day I couldn’t resist saying “Good dog” in a low voice when passing him and his handler (who responded with “on most days”).
We stopped at my gf’s office building one weekend so she could get something from her desk. She left me with the security guy. I asked if I could check out his gun, but he told me he was unarmed. I refused to believe him (jokingly), suggesting that he must have a sawed-off shottie under the counter. We went back and forth about that until gf showed up.
The following Monday the security guard spoke with my gf about our discussion. He was actually a little bit unnerved. He didn’t realize I was joking.
The OW has worked places like 5th Ave Place and the like and some of the places I work have been fairly secure; one thing I have learned is that guards have NO sense of humor when it comes to things like guns these days. With disgruntled ex’s coming in, sometimes quite violently and all, its just a big concern to them. Especially since the vast majority are unarmed. This tends to make them all a little nervous in the service. For a few months I worked the reception desk at a law firm downtown (don’t ask – long story) in one of those major buildings and the standard not-totally-a-joke among the guards was that in the event of an “incident” they would call the cops first and me the next second.
