Student looks for reasons not to interact

At the start of every semester, you meet new sets of people in your classes. Some teachers think it's a great idea to have a little "getting to know you session" at the end of the first class day, while others allow the students to walk in and out of the room in relative anonymity and don't try to force them to bond.

Whatever the level of interaction with other students in class is, outside my policy is always the same: I refuse to acknowledge your existence.

It's nothing against you personally; I just have no real connection to you, and see no reason to start up an awkward three-second conversation where I have to try and scramble and pretend I'm happy to see you.

Sure, I could say, "Hey, you're that guy from Professor So-and-so's class," but then I'd feel compelled to do that for everyone I marginally recognize anywhere I go.

"Hey, you're the guy that waited on me at Chili's!"

"Hey, you're the woman that was trying to return a curling iron at Wal-Mart!"

"Hey, you're the guy that threw up on his own shoes after downing his third pitcher of Coors Light at the bowling alley last weekend!"

This would be exhausting.

I've come up with a lot of ways to take the potential for pass-in-the-hall recognition out of the equation. My go-to move has always been the standard, sad sack "stare at my feet until you walk away" maneuver, but I've got others.

One of my favorites is to wait until the unwanted person is about 20 feet away, then abruptly turn my head the other direction like I just spotted someone whose hair caught on fire. The speed of the head spin will make them look that way too, and by then I'm long gone.

Technology makes avoidance far, far easier though. Everyone knows the time-honored trick of simply pulling out a cell phone and pretending to talk on it; that's kid's stuff. I've pretended to text, thrown on a headset and faux-rocked out and decided that now was the perfect time to use my iPhone to change my fantasy basketball lineup, all because I don't want to try and remember if your name is "Jason" or "Justin."

So if you see me walking down the hall, feel free to look straight ahead and keep walking. Pretend I'm not there. I won't think any less of you. If I had my choice, I'd prefer to not think of you at all.