Greetings, Earthlings!

I spent another sweltering hot day sitting in the heat of my car catching a few z's during my lunch hour. So, if my ramblings of the day sound a wee bit odd or off-kilter, just know that I might very well be suffering from a minor case of heat stroke. That being said, I was thinking about greetings today. In the morning, on my way up to my office, I cross paths with many people, and I usually greet them with a friendly "Good morning." It's a totally acceptable greeting until about 11 am-ish. However, what do you say after that? In the afternoon, if I'm out and about and see a familiar face (just familiar...not a friend or acquaintance), I'll usually greet them with my famous upsidedown-frown-smile. Unless, of course, it's a fabulous day (which it usually is NOT unless I'm not at work, so then I wouldn't have the whole greeting issue cuz I'd be somewhere else)...and then I greet people with a regular-rightsideup-smile. In the afternoon hours, it sounds ridiculous to say "Good afternoon." I mean, it sounds like I'm trying to be someone's British butler. I could be hick about and nod my head and say "afternoon." But that's so retarded...It's like totally stating the obvious. "Duh, we all know it's afternoon!" Then comes the hours between 5-9. The only person I typically see at that time is the receptionist at the gym. She usually gets my "hey, how are u?" greeting. If i said "Good evening" to her, she might think I was Count Dracula. I could get all hick on her too...and say "Evenin, ma'am," but again...stating the obvious. Then, there's "Good night." I mean, you never greet anyone saying "Good night." You end your conversation that way...so is that really considered a greeting? This whole "greeting" thing is quite perplexing. I think we should have one standard greeting....and it should be..."Hi" Not, "hello"...cuz that sounds all formal and strange. "Hi." I like it. It's simple, straight forward, and to the point. Ok, so who do I talk to about making this the International Standard Greeting for all hours of the day and night? (And to think that I thought I had nothing to blog about today!!!)