Is waving to strangers in public normal or just a Minnesota thing?

Its normal if you aren’t in a big city

It’s normal

I grew up in MA, people usually say a quick “hi” or “good morning.” No waving though.

Its 100% about population density. If you walk a mile and see 2 people you wave. 200? You don't.

its a big city vs suburbs/rural areas thing I'd guess. I live in the burbs and people say high as they pass on the sidewalk but if I go downtown 30 minutes away there are too many people so you just walk by eachother and don't say anything.

I like doing the steering wheel wave where my right hand is on the wheel and the wheel itself is between my thumb and pointer finger; the thumb stays on the wheel while the four fingers raise up as a wave, but my hand never leaves the steering wheel.

I’ve experienced waving in Oregon while I don’t usually get that in California I think it’s just anywhere that has nice people, lol

I'm from the NY metro area, moved to Missouri several years ago. Where i'm from, if you don't know someone and they wave at/say hi to you, they want something. In the Midwest, however, people are just polite.

My wife is from south Florida (West Palm Beach area) and I'm from NC (Durham area). We moved from West Palm to a VERY rural area in Granville county NC). Not long after moving up we were taking the long drive home from town and as someone was passing us, they waved. She asked if I knew them and I said no. Then she asked, "Then why did they wave at you?". I just told its because that's what country people do.

Weird in the NE. Normal in logical places.

Here in South Carolina, we wave in small towns. Growing up in the northeast, we absolutely did not wave. In my neighborhood fb group, even all of the grouchy transplanted northerners agree that if you're driving in the subdivision and don't do the little wave, you are a bit of an a******.

I'm from suburban NJ. We wave and smile to everyone and everyone reciprocates. Even if you're driving and someone is walking a dog. We both wave and smile.

We wave, just a little “hand raised”, no dog tail wagging

I think its just a normal sweet gesture to people. I am in Toronto, we just do that while we pass-by. And if you don’t do that, it feels like offended.

In Vermont we definitely wave to other cars and pedestrians. But only on dirt roads. And we definitely say hi to people when we’re walking or hiking.

Live in the twin cities suburbs, this is pretty standard around here, not even on trails

I'm terrified of saying hello. The person you saw definitely wasn't me.

Normal. I drive some backroads in horse country so it's always polite to do a short wave or at least nod when you drive by people.

I'm in Texas. It's very normal. We even speak to strangers here.

Even in places unfamiliar to me I always acknowledge others. Sometimes with "Hello", other times a simple nod of the head. To me it is a respect thing.

I grew up in New England and moved down south, I love a grocery store yap. Or just connecting with a random stranger for a moment. I moved back to the north east and I do try to continue that. Some people are weirded out or cranky (I have my days too!) but most smile/wave and hopefully had a positive interaction :)

Its pretty normal

Wisconsin here, I wave or say hello if there’s only a few people on the street with me. Every dog walker gets a hello and a wave though lol.

Born and raised in a large city in Texas, and we always waved to our neighbors. Currently live in a different large city in Texas, and my neighbors and I still all wave to each other.

I live in a village in a big city in Ontario Canada (amalgamation many years ago brought the surrounding rural village type places all into one big city), and previously lived in a suburban neighbourhood in the city. When I'm out and about in the downtown type areas we don't wave, as there are dozens and dozens of people going by. In the suburbs, I would say hi to folks walking by my house if I was out in the front. Where I am now (population is about 2,500), people say hi and wave to each other all the time, even though we don't all know each other. The other day I was driving down a residential street here, not near my own home, and some guy walking by waved at me. When I'm out gardening in the front, people sometimes actually honk when driving by and I don't always know them.

I feel like it’s pretty normal to at least nod and say hello. The waving seems a bit much, that might just be a Minnesota thing.

Im from nyc and visited my friend from texas. Everyone waved, and i remember being amazed like OMG YOU KNOW EVERYONE IN YOUR CITY?!?

Very normal in Memphis too! We say hi to everyone, and if you pause too long you’ll get a full blown conversation.

In the city perhaps a smile or nod if you make eye contact (accidentally, of course). That can also set you up to receive a proper growling. It can go either way, so most don't risk it. You may "catch a wave" if you perform some courtesy like letting a car go in front of you or wait while someone crosses the street but not many otherwise. Where I live you wave at every car on the road.

it's regional. like holding doors for others.

I live in a small town in Wisconsin and we smile at passersby! I grew up in a big city in Texas and we smiled there too. More waving in Texas than in Wisconsin.

It is not about whether it is normal or not try to be polite people

Normal in most of the South

It’s very normal to be friendly on trails. This is my experience in the US/CAN, around Europe and SE Asia. A hi/hello/good morning and a smile is just common courtesy. Anything more than that is being friendly and not as common. Maybe a “are we almost there yet?” or a heads up about trail conditions.

In missouri its normal. Are you finger waving them or full on dog tail wagging waving?

If you see me you can wave but I won’t wave back, I don’t really like interacting with people, that’s what my wife is for.