It's a difference in context

It occurred to me the other day while shopping at Best Buy that I should avoid smiling and saying hello to children while I am not at work.

Because, you see, at work, saying hello to children that are tagging along with their parents is like saying, "I'm really not even trying to sell you something, but if you bought something, gee, that'd be nice."

But a bearded man in his early 20s (but I do get confused for being in the 25-30 bracket), wearing shorts and a t-shirt, perusing the DVD section for anything that happens to be on sale, saying hello to random children seems suspect.

I caught myself waving childishly at an 8 year old when I thought, "If this little boy turns up missing, they're going to review the security tapes at this store and haul my ass in first."

So I just plain walked away and didn't look at anyone else in the store. I thought about how having children makes it okay to say hello to random children, but having none at all eradicates any possibility of being polite without the parent looking at you like you're someone they saw on that show where they trick pedophiles into showing up to a rendezvous, Arbor Mist and condoms in hand, only to find an upset looking reporter and a bored looking camera crew.