Hello, how are you? That simple greeting can mean so much, especially if you find yourself in a group of people and don’t know a single soul.

Last Saturday I went to the Sac State vs. Cal Poly football game with a group of people. I originally planned to go with one person, but that person had some friends come along at the last minute. I didn’t mind, until halfway through the game.

You see this group of people was not that friendly. I didn’t expect them to go out of their way for me, but they acted as if I wasn’t even there. To make matters worse, we all ran into a ton of people that they all knew and apparently adored. So I found myself playing the wallflower, a role that I’m not accustomed to.

After being invisible for about an hour and a half, I decided to make a meek attempt to “fit in.” I smiled and tried to sage way into their lively conversation about men. And guess what, I failed. Maybe I was wearing the wrong shade of lipstick.

Do you ever wonder what makes people the way they are? Could it be their upbringing or social status that forces some people to be inconsiderate? It wasn’t necessarily the girls alone in this group that were rude, but the people that they all knew too. Every person that went up to the other members of my friend’s group didn’t even acknowledge my existence. They all successfully averted their eyes from my perplexed facial expression.

Congratulations guys, you missed out on an opportunity to meet a most excellent person.

Sometimes I am afraid that people will pass their lack of cordial manners on to their children someday. What will become of the future if people purposely ignored other people just for the sake of not caring? I’m not saying that the people I met on Saturday night should have tried to be my best buddy or anything, but spending hours with someone and avoiding conversation the whole time shows elementary school behavior.

Looking back, I know I could have made more of an effort to get to know my friend’s friends, but they didn’t even pretend to care. At least they were honest, but they were also R-U-D-E!

For anyone who ever finds themselves in this same situation, just grin and bare it and be grateful that your friends are not as insensitive as the jerks I hung out with last Saturday night.