In April, I came up with the idiosyncratic notion that it would a good idea for those of us who live in Boston to smile and say hello to strangers in our neighborhood, and so I set up an online pledge with the help of Pledgebank.

The online pledge immediately received coverage in the Boston Globe, and the target of 50 pledgers was soon met and exceeded.

So far, so good.

I was a little disappointed that the Boston Globe article put more emphasis on smiley faces than on my original concerns about increasing civic engagement, building social capital, and including more Bostonians in the conversations where crucial decisions are made about our city's future. 

In fact, as I explained to Adrienne Samuels of the Boston Globe (although she didn't mention it in her article), I don't really worry about whether my fellow Bostonians smile at me, say hello to me, or engage in the various strenuous courtesies that are popular in other cities.  I enjoy my urban anonymity, and I even appreciate the sincerity of expression that I see on the streets every day.  When another Bostonian gives me the finger, it's really heartfelt, and I respect that.

What I do mind is that a lot of Bostonians feel left out the crucial conversations. 

Speaking for myself, I have no complaints.  I'm invited to attend a lot of meetings and to sit on a fair number of committees about the region's civic agenda. 

So my thinking ran along these lines:  it's too difficult and too abstract to start with including everyone in the civic discourse.  So I thought that small incremental change might be possible.  Saying hello to a stranger in one's neighborhood might lead to chatting about the passing scene, and chatting about the passing scene might lead to small favors among neighbors, or working together to solve a problem, or invitations to participate in the neighborhood association, or...well, you get the idea.

It was a goofy impulse, and the idea of using an online tool to collect pledges made it even more appealing as an experiment. 

However, it has now been officially labelled a Bad Idea by Boston Magazine.

In the July issue of Boston Magazine, Joe Keohane takes extreme umbrage.  He objects to my "smile and say hello to a stranger in my neighborhood" pledge, on the grounds that "now more than ever, Bostonians need to assert their inalienable right to be rude."  That's ok with me.  He implies that I have a perky attitude.  Alas, that is true; it seems to be my besetting sin.

My only problem with his condemnation of my goofy idea is that it completely misses the two main points:  1)  increasing civic engagement, and 2) fooling around with cool geek tools.

Ouch!