My Opinion | Apr 26,2025
Apr 13 , 2025
By Kidist Yidnekachew
Living side by side with others – sharing walls, staircases, even the same unreliable electricity – should make greetings feel natural. A simple “hello” seems like the least we could offer one another. And yet, I often find myself hesitating. Despite my best intentions, I struggle to consistently greet my neighbours. It's a habit I've tried to cultivate, but a strange cocktail of fear – the fear of a cold shoulder, of an unreturned smile – and perhaps a touch of ego, the reluctance to be the one to break the ice, often holds me back.
In my head, entire conversations unfold. I imagine brief banter, casual check-ins, and maybe even shared laughter. I see these people daily. Some I’ve spoken to before. Yet when our paths cross on the dusty streets of our neighbourhood or within the shared confines of our compound, an invisible barrier rises, preventing that simple, connecting "Hi."
Just yesterday, I saw a neighbour from the next block. We’ve spoken before, mostly about our shared frustration with the frequent power outages. It’s a common grievance here. Our two blocks often go dark, thanks to what the condominium committee claims is an overloaded supply worsened by our “excessive” usage.
It’s become nearly impossible to bake injera during the day. If someone switches on both an electric stove and a mitad (a traditional clay griddle), the entire block plunges into darkness. Some days, the lights flicker like a cruel joke. Cooking, cleaning, even working – it all turns into a waiting game.
Anyway, this neighbour – his wife had been expecting. Lately, I’d seen guests coming and going from their homes, and I figured she had given birth. I don't typically greet his wife either, another instance of my hesitant nature. But I genuinely wanted to ask him how she was doing and to offer my congratulations to both of them. As I passed by and saw him standing at his door, the moment was right. And still, I said nothing. I just looked at him and walked on. Instantly, I felt like a terrible neighbour.
There’s another woman I often see walking along our road. Every time, I consider greeting her. But again, the same hesitation stops me. So we pass each other, our eyes meeting briefly – a silent acknowledgement of our shared presence – and then we carry on. Ironically, when we sit together during community meetings to discuss issues like electricity, conversation flows easily.
It’s not that I greet no one. There are a few people I always say “hi” to, and thankfully, they reciprocate. Once I make that connection, it becomes second nature. I treat it seriously, like a lifelong commitment. I’ll smile and greet them every time, even if they don’t notice me. But when someone I’ve built that rhythm with stops responding, just once, it throws me. I start to overthink. Did I do something wrong? Are they upset with me? I have little patience for inconsistency. That is why I hesitate to start in the first place.
Sometimes, I wonder if others see my silence as snobbery, an aloofness that suggests I believe myself to be above a simple greeting. Maybe they think I’m cold or full of myself. If only they knew the internal battle raging within me, the awkwardness, the self-doubt. I can’t say exactly when greeting others became so difficult. I remember a time when it felt easier. Maybe the change is in me. Maybe it’s in all of us.
Maybe it’s my ego, whispering warnings of rejection. Or maybe it’s self-preservation, a habit born out of too many uncertain encounters. Whatever the reason, I find it undeniably difficult to be the first to extend a greeting.
Still, there are those exceptions. A few early “hellos” that opened doors to genuine connection. And every time that happens, I’m reminded of how powerful a greeting can be. It tells someone: You belong here. You are seen.
And sometimes, that’s all anyone needs.
PUBLISHED ON
Apr 13, 2025 [ VOL
26 , NO
1302]
My Opinion | Apr 26,2025
Fortune News | Jul 03,2021
Commentaries | Apr 17,2021
Agenda | Dec 08,2024
Fortune News | Oct 21,2023
Sunday with Eden | Sep 01,2024
Commentaries | Oct 21,2023
Viewpoints | Aug 16,2025
Fortune News | Jun 10,2023
View From Arada | Jan 09,2021
Photo Gallery | 156074 Views | May 06,2019
Photo Gallery | 146360 Views | Apr 26,2019
My Opinion | 135217 Views | Aug 14,2021
Photo Gallery | 134872 Views | Oct 06,2021
Dec 22 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitiv...
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 28 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Unhabitual, perhaps too many, Samuel Gebreyohannes, 38, used to occasionally enjoy a couple of beers at breakfast. However, he recently swit...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transporting commodities, and f...
Sep 13 , 2025
At its launch in Nairobi two years ago, the Africa Climate Summit was billed as the f...
Sep 6 , 2025
The dawn of a new year is more than a simple turning of the calendar. It is a moment...
Aug 30 , 2025
For Germans, Otto von Bismarck is first remembered as the architect of a unified nati...
Aug 23 , 2025
Banks have a new obsession. After decades chasing deposits and, more recently, digita...
Sep 15 , 2025 . By AMANUEL BEKELE
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Africa's largest hydroelectric power proj...
Sep 13 , 2025
The initial budget in 2011 was 80 billion Br, but this figure swelled to a revised cost of 240 billion Br by 2024, a challenge that was exac...
Banks are facing growing pressure to make sustainability central to their operations as regulators and in...
Sep 15 , 2025 . By YITBAREK GETACHEW
The Addis Abeba City Cabinet has enacted a landmark reform to its long-contentious setback regulations, a...
Loading your updates...