Can we, as a society, agree on a date after which one cannot use “Happy New Year” as a greeting? I passed an acquaintance in the hall yesterday and was met with a half-hearted “Happy New Year”.I found it really odd that on January 18 I would still be hearing those words. A few years ago, someone said it to me around January 28th. Did this individual suddenly come out of a four-week coma and hadn’t yet had a chance to look at a calendar? It just strikes me as being completely insincere and lazy.So, let’s agree on a date. How about January 7th? Everyone gets a week to get “Happy New Year” out of their system. After that, it’s off limits.Now, as far as questions like “How was your Christmas?”, I think we can extend the deadline a bit – maybe January 14th. However, if you’re still asking that question on February 1, then I think you may need to brush up on your small talk.Here endeth the rant.