I’m keenly aware of the difference between the generations.

At my age I don’t try to act hip or cool or be tech savvy like the younger generation.

Likewise, I don’t expect them to be able to read and spell and write in cursive like my generation.

There are just too many generations out there - Baby Boomers, Millenialists, Generation X, Generation Y, and who knows what else? - to think that you can move fluidly between them and be a “man for all seasons.”

The only safe course is to stay in your own generation and not be like the old guy riding around in a convertible muscle car.

Get over it, Clyde, you’re Generation ZZZ; next thing you know you'll fall asleep at the wheel and kill yourself!

Still and all, there are knee-jerk reactions that happen as second nature.

For example, my generation typically speaks to or nods to people on the street as a form of greeting.

It’s a simple acknowledgment; it's not an overture to friendship or an invitation to come over for a glass of Ovaltine or anything else. It’s a simple how ya’ doin’.

But I’ve noticed more and more that when I greet someone in that manner I get absolutely no response from them, that is, if you don't count the blank stare and slack jaw.

This seems particularly so with young people who don't seem to have an answer for “How ya’ doin’?” or a response for “Hello.”

It's like they don't have an app for that. Thus it appears that snubbing is the new hello.

Yet, the amazing thing is how life balances things out and brings about a state of equilibrium.

I have been more than compensated for all the snubbing by the man on the street.

The government, Internet, cellphone carrier and credit card companies want to know EVERYTHING about me. They are telling me hello or nodding my way all the time, even when I don't know they're there, which I don't most of the time.

As a matter of fact, their acknowledgment of me is such that I'm probably part of a profile or demographic somewhere. And all I had to do was be me!

So greet me with a nod when we meet or not; makes no difference to me.

I have friends who compile dossiers on me!  

Bob Morgan is a retired, award-winning journalist and author.