Social Butterfly

Troy is quite the social butterfly when we go out on our strolling excursions. He will quite literally greet everyone he sees on the street with a hand wave and a soft "Hi." What I probably enjoy more than this gesture is seeing how people will react to it. I mean if I was doing this, then I'd probably get mostly ignored, especially by the younger kids (I guess I scream stranger-danger). I'd probably have mixed results with the adults. But how can you not react to a little 15-month old baby softly and sweetly telling you "Hi"? And yet...and yet...some people don't. If we were to break this down into a psychology experiment, it might go something like this...

Test Group 1 - Adult Females
The women eat it up. They love smiling at him and telling him "Hi" back. They usually will also ask him additional questions, believing that he's interested in engaging them in conversation...which he most assuredly is not. He will typically look at them like they've grown a second head until we stroll on to the next encounter. There are a couple of them that we pass every day, and they even remember Troy and acknowledge him first, which he does seem to like.

CONCLUSION: Either way it is initiated, there is an overall positive response from this test group.

Test Group 2 - Adult Males
This group is a lot less likely to acknowledge Troy. Whether it is the typical male bravado preventing them from expressing emotions or an actual lack of emotion toward a waving baby, Troy rarely gets anything back from them. If he does, then it's usually a stiff and formal "Hi" and that's it. Mostly, I get a head nod, and Troy gets ignored.

CONCLUSION: Overall not an overwhelming positive response from this test group.

Test Group 3 - Pre-Teen and Teenager Females
This group seems to find Troy utterly adorable. They will not only respond to him with the best smiles and laughter, but will usually point out his cuteness to others in their group or family. If we were not in a pandemic right now, there is a high likelihood that they would probably also approach him to engage him further. Knowing what kind of flirt my son is, I believe this response would also be welcome and appreciated.

CONCLUSION: Best response from any test group...complete heart melt.

Test Group 4 - Pre-Teen and Teenager Males
This group tends to completely ignore both of us, but especially Troy. There is a distinct disinterest from this group in a baby, finding him neither cute nor noteworthy in any way. They will usually pass by as quickly as possible so as to be spared the agony of being forced into actual human interaction.

CONCLUSION: Worst response from any test group...complete apathy.

Test Group 5 - Children Both Genders
I will lump both genders together in this test group, because the response is almost always exactly the same. They are at first surprised that someone is addressing them at all, thinking or possibly hoping that they are in fact invisible to adults (and babies by association). They will then have a conflicted few seconds where they struggle between the social norms that they've been taught to respond with politely and stranger-danger tendencies that have also been drilled into their heads. This is heightened if they're on their own versus being with others in a group. Ultimately, realizing that the gesture actually came from an innocent little baby and not the "creepy" guy pushing the stroller, they will give an equally-quiet and tentative "Hi" back and then ride or walk on as quickly as possible.

CONCLUSION: Definitely the most interesting response from any test group, and probably the easiest to understand.

OVERALL CONCLUSION: A better response from females in general as compared to males. The age range of 12-18 yielded the best response in females and the worst response in males. There is definitely a higher response rate to Troy than myself.