‘Hola’: An Interesting Social Experiment?
Though alot of us don’t speak Spanish, I think its safe to say, we all know what ‘Hola‘ means. Generally it is a greeting such as ‘hey’, ‘hi’, ‘hello’. A very general low level term, which you can say to everyone. Literally everyone.
In Chile, and actually from what I’ve been told, in the Spanish speaking populace of the world (ie: Spain, and Latin America, perhaps other places as well…), everyone greets each other, with ‘hola‘.
Let’s take for example, purchasing something at a store. A normal purchase, where you’d have to go up to the a cash register and pay.
I think in Malaysia it’s safe to say it goes a little something like this.
- You pass your things to the cash register attendant.
- Cash register attendant indicates the amount.
- You pay the indicated amount.
- (Optional) You or the cash register attendant say ‘Thank you‘
- You leave.
A very straight forward procedure actually.
What I’ve experienced here, is that there are a few extra initial steps:
- Cash register greets you with an ‘hola‘.
- You kindly respond with an ‘hola‘.
Actually, they may say a bit more, possibly one of these:
- Good morning/evening.
- How are you?
Alright, once again…very simple, but I believe it has a profound effect. Especially when multiplied with virtually everyone doing it. Including and not limited to:
- Car parking attendant
- Strangers on the street
- Waiters/waitresses
- The person next door
- Toll booth attendants
Its interesting, because it helps to open a pathway for a conversation. There is actual interaction being carried on. In fact, it’s a good indication of how friendly the person can be, and even forces people to be friendly. (No one likes to see an angry face).
Just for fun, it would be an interesting thing to try out in Malaysia. In fact I’ve been carrying it out since I’ve arrived in Malaysia. Maybe I should take down some statistics besides just observing the people’s reaction.
