I’m Officially Banning “Nice to Meet You” From My Vocabulary

With all the exposure we get these days – including published articles, speaking engagements, blogs, websites, twitter, facebook, linkedin, flickr, … – when do we actually “meet” someone for the first time?

When we meet someone in person, we may very well have seen them in those places, or even had a conversation with them in those places. And because us humans have imperfect memories, when we “meet” for the first time in person, there can be that puzzling “haven’t we met before” thought, look, or conversation. And perhaps we have met before – but just not in a face to face conversation.

(Perhaps only a lawyer could put shades of gray on the meaning of the word “meet” – but I digress.)

So effective immediately, when I “meet” someone for the first time, it will be “nice to see you”, or a nod and hello and a repeat of their name – but not a suggestion that it is the first time we have met.

And as an added bonus, it avoids the occasional faux pas when one has actually met the person in person before, but just failed to recall it at the moment.