Hey Rasta!

January 5, 2007 11:18 AM

People on the street always look at me and say, "Rasta!"

I have dreadlocks. When I walk down the street during the day, it almost never fails that someone passing by will offhandedly remark "Rasta!" or "Eyy Rasta!" in my direction and make eye contact. Sometimes these people are white, sometimes black. They never actually stop and say anything, just always "Rasta!"

I always had assumed this simply came with the territory, and just responded with a polite "Hey," back to them, smiled, and moved on. However, after thinking about this a bit last week, I've realized that I've never actually been sure of the proper response, and I'm always left feeling somewhat silly when addressed by a stranger as "rasta," especially when you consider that I am not, in fact, Rastafarian.

So, how should I respond to these people, who often adopt pseudo-Jamaican accents when delivering their greeting to me? Should I just say "Hey"? Is there some more accepted return greeting that I am ignorant of? Is there something else I should say? Is this a stupid question? Any other general discussion of this phenomenon wouldn't hurt, either.

posted by dead_ to grab bag (39 comments total)

I think your response is just fine. People are always going to make ridiculous remarks. Maybe if you reframe it and realize that this is people's way of saying hello to you, then saying "hey" back will seem more natural.

FWIW, your question is not stupid, but people addressing a stranger on the street as "Rasta" with a fake Jamaican accent most certainly is.
posted by forensicphd at 11:23 AM on January 5, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I think you're supposed to say, "Hey mon" with a fake Jamaican accent.
posted by Osmanthus at 11:25 AM on January 5, 2007

Offer them a hit on your joint?

I would just smile and keep on moving.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:33 AM on January 5, 2007

My guess is that what's happening in this little charade is that closet potsmokers are involuntarily outing themselves. Rastafarians being the one group for whom ganga is a sacrament, some committed pot smokers just cant stop themselves from expressing some bredrenly one-love when they spot one on the street - particularly if they've never actually met one before.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:36 AM on January 5, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

It sounds like they are just having fun and being silly. You should high five them. Or give them a long drawn out 'Hey-ay!'. Make them feel like they are cool and in-the-know. It will be fun. Its nice to be nice.
posted by ND¢ at 11:37 AM on January 5, 2007

put on the most whitebread accept possible and say:

"Goodday to you, sir. I am an accountant. Would you care for some tips on how to deduct your capital gains?"
posted by drjimmy11 at 11:45 AM on January 5, 2007 [5 favorites has favorites]

Related story -- in a restaurant run by actual rastafarians, on the way out one of the owners said something to my brother that I didn't hear, but I did hear him say, "hey, one love to you too!"

Yeah, so I'm with Osmanthus on playing along with a silly fake Jamaican response ("aw, one love to ya, bra.")
posted by salvia at 11:49 AM on January 5, 2007

"You sir, are an idiot." would quite a perfectly respectable response.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:50 AM on January 5, 2007

You should say "Lord of lords, king of kings, lion of Judah, Jah Rastafarai, almighty God." It could be that you are in Lincoln, NE, too. In NYC no one would bat an eye.
posted by fixedgear at 11:54 AM on January 5, 2007

"White dude!" (with nasally, annoying white-person accent)
posted by koeselitz at 11:54 AM on January 5, 2007

That would work because it's funny and outwardly cordial, but still says "you're a dipshit."
posted by koeselitz at 11:55 AM on January 5, 2007

I agree that it may sometimes be a (not so) subtle Pot Smoker's Club thing. They may be expecting you to offer them weed.

Otherwise, it's probably akin to somebody casually saying "nice shirt" or "cool tattoo" in passing. People are weird. A casual nod or simple "hey" is definitely an acceptable response.
posted by maniactown at 11:58 AM on January 5, 2007

I like the "White dude!" reply, but you should branch out into more un-PC and off-the-wall presumptions of identity, like "Shalom!" or "Konechiwa!" Get people wondering whether they "look Jewish."
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:59 AM on January 5, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Because I'm tall, somewhat burly-looking, white, and have a pony-tail, I have folks yell out "Hey, Steven Segall!" with annoying regularity. I smile and nod. Seems to make them happy, and it's little effort from me, so why not?
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:17 PM on January 5, 2007

It's possibly a pot-smoker thing. When I was in the rage of my youth, so many years ago, I could walk down just about any urban street and someone would offer/ask for marijuana. while I did smoke pot, I couldn't for the life of me understand how people knew to ask me. Years later my much more sober and much, much older self looked at some pictures from this period of my life. To my dismay, I discovered in picture after picture I looked incredibly stoned. /tangent.
posted by elwoodwiles at 12:25 PM on January 5, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Chicagoan here who moved to the West Indies a few months ago.

Back in the states that would have pissed me off.

On this little island however, it's very commonplace for locals, immigrants, and sometimes even tourists to address some persons as "Ras" or "Rasta". Now that's still making an assumption, but it is not of an offensive nature (though who am I to judge?). Anyway it's changed my perception of the phrase. It's more like somebody saying "hey dude," hey buddy," or the typical "hi, how ya doin'?"

Usually the response here is "y' aright?" with the typical response being "okay." I find the 'you alright--I'm okay' exhange very simmilar to the 'Hey, how's it going-- it's going good.' You're not really asking, but it's somewhat polite.

So the response here would be to ask if the person is doing fine by saying 'alright?' to which they should respond '(i'm) okay."

Funny thing is, I know alot of Rastas who've spent time in NYC, and alot of islander ex-pats who come from NYC. If that's where you are, some of the white guys assuming you're a rasta may be expats visiting home.

And a good deal of them may be bozos who bought Legend last week.

If you're seeking guidance as to whether that should offend you and then what to do... that's up to you.
posted by conch soup at 12:48 PM on January 5, 2007

I would probably be like, "BASTA!" or "PASTA!" or "SHASTA!" or maybe even "CANASTA!"

PANTS-A?!
posted by The Straightener at 12:48 PM on January 5, 2007

When I was in graduate school in Louisville, in a decidedly working class neighborhood, I just got wary looks for my beard and long hair. Be grateful for the Jah Love.
posted by craniac at 12:55 PM on January 5, 2007

i think they're being incredibly lame. comments like this are so obvious that they're never funny- it's so lame i lose my mind. it's like asking a tall guy "how's the weather up there? play any basketball lately?" or asking the tattooed girl, "wow, did that hurt?" these responses indicate to me that this person lives in a world where everyone looks homogeneous, so a "cool hairstyle!" is the highlight of their month. LAME!

along those lines, i have a fairly prominent physical trait that provokes various strangers to ask me the exact same lame and intrusive question about every other day. although i'm always polite in response, the question makes me immediately lose interest in the person who asked, because obviously they have nothing better to do than get excited about the most mundane thing about me. it's the kind of question that i get asked on a lot of first dates, and nothing denies the dude a goodnight smooch faster than the checkmark i mentally place in the "lame" box when he asks. the saddest part is that he thinks his interest is a sort of compliment.

i like the response suggested by drjummy11: "Goodday to you, sir. I am an accountant. Would you care for some tips on how to deduct your capital gains?"
posted by twistofrhyme at 12:56 PM on January 5, 2007

forensicphd is absolutely correct. Its a mindful greeting when addressed to a dreadman or woman. I would match an hello with an hello personally. If you happen to be a faith believing Rasta, it would be acceptable to respond with blessed or something of the like.
posted by mycapaciousbottega at 1:04 PM on January 5, 2007

I think the pot-smoker theory overestimates the intentionality behind this behaviour. I'm more with the "nice shirt/tattoo" theory. People are just blurting out something that comes to mind without thinking much about it. You can respond as though they just said "Hello" or, if it bothers you, use one of the humorous responses above to make them think about what they've said.
posted by winston at 1:13 PM on January 5, 2007

People are just blurting out something that comes to mind without thinking much about it.

Yeah, that sounds about right. This thread is a real Rorschach test: some people seem to react to just about any stimulus by assuming somebody's being an asshole and responding accordingly ("You sir, are an idiot")—and then they wonder why other people think they're an asshole—and others assume benign intentions and respond in a friendly manner (of the various suggestions here, I especially like "y' aright?" as being authentic and intriguingly offbeat)—and I'll bet they probably find most people are friendly to them. What goes around comes around, Jah love, mon.
posted by languagehat at 1:26 PM on January 5, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

adopt a fake accent and say 'how you doin' man?' or yeah, you could just keep on truckin'
posted by sporky at 1:37 PM on January 5, 2007

Goodday to you, sir. I am an accountant. Would you care for some tips on how to deduct your capital gains?

How do you respond if they answer yes?
posted by malp at 1:40 PM on January 5, 2007

Give then tips on how to deduct their capital gains. Bad ones.
posted by jennyb at 2:00 PM on January 5, 2007

Who knew capital gains could be so funny? I keep giggling at every accountant comment.

I agree that your standard "Hey" response is best, although "ya'alright?" can be fun too depending on how well you pull it off.

My wife went through the same sort of thing while she was pregnant, for some reason pregnant womens bellies are public property to some people and they want to stop, talk and touch. Its really weird but it happens all the time, we just got used to it, would smile and keep walking.
posted by skrike at 2:34 PM on January 5, 2007

I, like languagehat, am appalled by the Best Answering up in here. If you're going to wear dreads, and someone (conch soup) gives accurate information about the people for whom the hairstyle/culture actually means something, at least give that information a passing nod.

If you're going to walk the walk, you could at least try to talk the talk. Eh, mon?
posted by TG_Plackenfatz at 2:35 PM on January 5, 2007

you could say "far-I", "lordhavemercy!", "JAH! (JAH!...JAH!...JAH!...JAH!...JAH!)", or "His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings and Elect of God". Or, just memorize large portions of this and relay with a heavy Jamacain accent.
posted by hellbient at 2:41 PM on January 5, 2007

along those lines, i have a fairly prominent physical trait that provokes various strangers to ask me the exact same lame and intrusive question about every other day.

Oh man, you can't write something like that and not tell what it is! I'm going crazy here!
posted by myeviltwin at 2:58 PM on January 5, 2007

My white natty-dredded boy gets this a lot - it can be a good conversation starter when travelling. 'Marley' is also common - nothing breaks the ice like having a group of Filipinos singing "Buffalo Soldier" in a big circle around you! Listen to the intent and respond in kind.

Interestingly, "y'alright/ okay" is the usual, accepted, standard greeting exchange in my very multicultural, government workplace here in London, even in more formal settings - and we don't have that many Jamaicans.
posted by goo at 3:12 PM on January 5, 2007

Ah, I'd assume best answer is the best answer for the person asking the question. Not best answer for the reading masses, so stop complaining, yeesh.

Anyways, I'm for the nod and smile. Quickest and easiest route to getting through it all.
posted by Atreides at 3:12 PM on January 5, 2007

Calm down guys I was just marking best answers quickly as I headed out the door at work. Jeez. It's marked now. Thanks.
posted by dead_ at 3:54 PM on January 5, 2007

Seconding LanguageHat: smile and nod. I apparently bear a resemblance to the lead singer of the Mexican rock and roll band Mana. Every time I bought a slice of pizza from my local restaurant, the entire staff shouted out, "!Mana! !Hola!" which was cool. And hey, I learned about a pretty decent band.

I'm told that I look like the Undertaker, as well. Especially to very young people, it seems. Nod, and smile.
posted by Squid Voltaire at 4:02 PM on January 5, 2007

I would probably say something like "No, I'm LDS", but that's just me.
posted by muddgirl at 5:32 PM on January 5, 2007

When I read your question, I immediately thought that they were offering to buy pot from you too, for whatever it's worth.
posted by mendel at 8:19 PM on January 5, 2007

along those lines, i have a fairly prominent physical trait that provokes various strangers to ask me the exact same lame and intrusive question about every other day.

"Are those real?"


To the original poster: It's not a stupid question. You're not obligated to pretend to be something you're not just because someone else is doing so.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 11:16 PM on January 5, 2007

A lot of people who enjoy reggae music, or jamaican/rasta culture, have a generally very positive attitude to all things Rasta, so it can actually brighten up their day to pass a dready in the street. Some relevant lyrics from the Burning Spear song "Hey Dready",

When some people see a
Rastaman, not knowing his
Name like any other man,
The first thing they say is,
"Hey Dready!".
It's not they're saying they
Hate Dready,
It's more like they're saying
They love Dready.

Just smile and say hello in any way you are comfortable with, as you would if you pass anyone else saying 'hello'.
posted by MetaMonkey at 7:54 AM on January 6, 2007

I like your simple "Hey" response -- merely a friendly acknowledgement of their acknowledgment of you (and your not-your-average hairstyle). Sounds like good-natured greetings - it's all good, mon.
posted by davidmsc at 1:40 PM on January 6, 2007

When having the usual communication problems with a local black man, here in South Africa, I commented on some items he was selling with green/yellow/red motiff.

I was instantly smiled at and asked whether I was a rainbow, too. Obviously, I said yes. Things improved instantly.

So, just be a rainbow. Good will come of it.
posted by Goofyy at 6:19 AM on January 8, 2007