I once read of a professional tennis player who was known for his politeness and etiquette. A true gentleman's gentleman. There was an anecdote about how when he played, it was custom for a player to intentionally hit a ball out of bounds if he felt he was the recipient of a bad call in his favor. Sort of evening things up, if you will. People were always confused as to why this player didn't adhere to such a standard. They thought it was out of character for him to not be polite.

Finally, one day he was asked about it. His response was that it was actually impolite to make such a gesture because it drew attention to the ref's bad call.

I bring this up because I'm starting to wonder if polite chit-chat is actually impolite. There's a secretary/receptionist that I'm forced to pass about 3 times a week. She's on a floor and in a location where she clearly has to "greet" people many many times a day.

Conventional wisdom would say that it's impolite to just walk by her without acknowledging her existence. However, I imagine it would be quite tedious to go through the "good morning. how are you. I'm fine, thanks for asking" routine 30 times a day. The poor woman has to always look up from whatever work she is doing to put on the big fake smile. This woman doesn't care how we are doing, and I doubt she wants to share how she is doing. She's already aware of the weather that's outside, or how quickly the holidays are coming up, or that it's Monday, or almost Friday. Leave her alone already!

note: I still say hello to her and do the boring chit chat, but that's only because I'm a horribly selfish and inconsiderate person.