20 Janvier: just humor me and smile back please

So- cultural difference number two (that I don't particularly like): the French don't like to acknowledge in passing. They love their greetings when you walk into their business or store, but not to much when simply passing. I like that in America. Now, I know you won't get a positive acknowledgment in return everywhere in the states, but I almost always smile or nod, and I almost always get one in return. I like that acknowledgment.I think it's such a humanistic instinct but maybe it isn't if they don't do it here. I always get a nice reaction at home, whether it be someone my age, or a mother, or a tough biker, a child, or a teenager. But here, that doesn't happen and I don't like it. It makes me feel as though their greetings that I liked so much were fake. I think it's rude to blatantly ignore someone when they acknowledge you, even if you are a stranger to them. But I guess it is just one of those things I will have to get used to.