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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Folks, OP isn't asking for friends or socializing. She finds it weird that these people don't engage with her at all, even when their children are interacting at a playground. She describes people as just looking past her. That's super anti-social.

I think parents should view one another like work colleagues. If you went to the office and refused to make eye contact or exchange greetings with coworkers, you would right be considered anti-social and rude. You don't have to be friends with coworkers or hang out with them after work. But you should figure out how to interact with them in a pleasant way while you are at work.

Well, when you are a parent, part of the job is playgrounds, and pick-up/drop-off at school, camp, and activities. People should learn to make eye contact, smile, even make idle chit chat with the parents you see in these places. You will often be seeing the same parents for years and years -- that woman you pretended did not exist at the neighborhood playground when your kids will 2? Guess what, five years later the two of you will be stuck sitting near each other for 3 hours at a soccer tournament or the 2nd grade zoo field trip or something. Go ahead and learn her freaking name and acknowledge her existence like a human being.

Were some of you raised by wolves or something?[/quote]

Sometimes I’m just tired and don’t feel like making small talk. I have enough friends already and even getting to the playground with the kids felt like an ordeal. I just want to be quiet for 15 minutes![/quote]

Then you make eye contact, smile, say "how are you all today?" and then pull out your book or your phone and people will leave you alone.

It's not about being friends. These people don't even want to be your friends. They want people not to live in total silos without even acknowledging each other's existence of the fact that you are people living in the same neighborhood with kids the same age and likely will cross paths again.[/quote]

+1. PPs are being willfully obtuse. I have social anxiety and still manage to smile and say hello to other parents at the playground, even when tired. It's called basic manners and some people can't be bothered, so make excuses for their rudeness. And yes, chatting with other parents in the neighborhood has occasionally led to some valuable insights about our community and schools that are helpful for my family.[/quote]

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