Ice breakers do help a lot. In certain situations, if you do not want to be branded as obnoxious, rude or arrogant, you need to have a bagful of ice breakers to get by. For me, my name is enough. Call me egoistic, but i would not dare disregard if somebody mentions my name or call me by my name to get my attention.
If somebody calls my attention with my first name, Hannahlo – then that person must know me from work or at some point, maybe a distant acquaintance. If somebody calls or addresses me as Miss or Ma’am, then most probably that person is a guest or customer or client. If somebody calls me by my pet name, Ayls, ‘Nang Ayls, Ayling then it must be my hubby or my immediate family member. Both my blood relations and my in-laws call me “Ayling”. Endearments like “Ateng” , “Ateng H” would come from my dearest and closest friends who are either here in Germany or somewhere else in the world. I am also referred to as Han, Hannah to which I also normally respond to. suffice it to say, I usually reply depending on how I am addressed. Mind you, if you whistle or start blabbing to me without me looking at you in the eye, well… you won’t be able to get any reply. Call me snob, obnoxious or arrogant… but I simply won’t.
If by chance we know each other, but I just walk on by… please do not think I am ignoring you or pretending I do not know you. The most probable reason is that I am zoning out during that time or I do not have my eyeglasses on, therefore I am not able to recognize you. Most of the time though, if we know each other for a while, then I would recognize your voice… only then will I, yes I promise… I will say hello and stop by for a few minutes to exchange pleasantries.