[STORY] Why I started saying "Friendly greetings!"

I might as well share the story now, lest I forget about it in my elder years: it was over a decade ago and I became quite prolific posting on Internet forums. (And BBSes before them, for that matter.) I've lost count but I'm certain I've made 100,000+ posts across forums of all kinds, from popular and public ones to obscure little niches which required login and secret handshake. At times, it was a compulsive hobby. Others, it was because I garned specific knowledge in a given community and doled it out — couldn't stop helping!

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Anyway, I was a shy kid, and it was hard for me to get my intentions across. In person, I'd start to stammer and lose focus. Over time, getting past my introversion, I learned if I was more upfront and simple about how I said hello, people would like me more. (And those that didn't, I could weed out quickly.) But a lot of people said "Hello!" In elementary school I had a good friend named Jared who was masterful at going "Yo!" So I thought to myself, "What would be accessible enough to be easily recognizable and help me meet new people, but not so generic… or alien that it'd be majorly offensive?"

Hallmark, for all the undeserved derision they get, is always onto something. And I thought of various staples like — well, Season's Greetings! But it isn't always the "Season" as in… the holiday season. But I am a pretty positive and friendly guy. So — hey!

"Friendly greetings" was born.

Or should I say, reborn, as it's no unique phrase by any stretch of imagination, but has become so associated with me because I use it frequently in my Second Life and other videos. I say it like I mean it, and yes, I mean it like I say it too.

I wish I had a way to easily search for the first time I typed "Friendly greetings!" on a forum. There've been many introductions over the years, but it's served me so well from one destination to the next: hearing "Friendly greetings!" said back to me makes me incredibly happy as it (harkening back to being a kid who was afraid he'd be forgotten) acknowledges my presence and positive influence on others.

Here's a picture of Daniel Voyager and me proclaiming "Friendly greetings!" today. You should really check out his Flickr sets, he travels so much in Second Life and voraciously photographs the many cool things he finds along the way.

Memorability matters, after all.

Today, I just googled and I've got the #1, #2, and #8 #7 matches for "Friendly greetings!". I didn't set out in the beginning to accomplish that, but it's been a secret hope. Well, secret no more.

And now you know, as Paul Harvey (who's moonwalking with Michael Jackson, no doubt) would say, THE REST OF THE STORY.

And I am ever-so-thankful for all the wonderful people I've met in my lives' journeys because of "Friendly greetings!"