None of us are in your shoes so it’s really tough to say what your coworkers’ motivations are, but at the end of the day you are yourself, you are in charge of your mental and physical well-being. When someone else does something minor and it affects you strongly it’s time to stop thinking about them and start thinking about what’s happening in your own body.

Unfortunately your emotions, like being offended, aren’t entirely in your control. There are a lot of brain connections rustling around up in your noggin that don’t pass through the filter of your consciousness.

The best advice I can offer is to redirect yourself when you start to get offended. Pick a favorite topic, something that you like to think about often, and “switch” to it when you feel yourself getting triggered.

As for how you should act when you aren’t greeted directly? I see no reason for you to change your behavior, just act as though nothing happened, because nothing did happen

Is it possible that they greeted you nonverbally since they were already in a conversation?

Don’t let it get to you. They’ll come around if you keep up the positive vibes. You’re also new, so you’ll be learning the behaviors of people you barely know. It’s also possible that these folks are quite friendly, but maintain a strict focus when they aren’t taking a break. There are a million different reasons why they didn’t verbally respond, so don’t take it personally.

The way I greet people at work is a basic “hey” and wave as I walk by, if they don’t seem too busy. If they respond I hear it, if they wave I’ll hopefully see it, and if they do nothing then I’ve already walked past them.

Greet them first. Move on with your day.

They’re starting at you because you’re attractive, but also too crazy to befriend.

Yes this is disrespectful.

My advice would be to stop greeting them until they notice you. Occasionally try again, but not every day.

both of them staring at me. What am I supposed to do when that happens?

In this case, you say “what is it?” to them. If they continue to stare at you wordlessly, you may escalate slowly to either violence or a report to authority.

Whether you decide to self-handle it or have authority handle it, if they continue to stare wordlessly at you as you try to communicate with them, you escalate to the point where it forces them to move.

You must be from one of those sociable states/cultures. Where I’m from you get to work, drop a passing “hey” or head nod, maybe a “how are ya” if you don’t hate each other, and then get in with your work. It’s not rude; they’re your coworkers, not your friends, after all.

Maybe they are hungover and hate working

We are all ghosts driving bone mech suits covered in flesh armor. Our only knowledge of the universe is our own interpretation of the data provided by our input sensors. In other words, we can only experience the life in our own heads. You do not know what life others lead, what experiences they navigate or what they think of you. Odds are great that your existence does not really carry much weight to them because they are busy and primarily concerned with the existence they deal with. You are the main character in your story, nobody else’s.

Fuckem. Say gmornin’ and keep moving, they probably suck anyway if they can’t muster up the decency to reply.

I went into the office I now work at, greeted 2 coworkers I’ve already worked with, they looked at me, said nothing, kept talking to themselves.

How am I supposed to interpret that?

I think you should interpret it exactly how it sounds like

It may or may not be fair. Personally, with a very few exceptions, I dislike coworkers and want as few interactions with them whether positive or negative. I just don’t care. But regardless of that, your coworkers are there because they have to be, and if they’ve decided they don’t want to interact with you and are now letting you know, that is their option, whether it’s fair or not.

Why are they talking to themselves? Are they busy and don’t want to be distracted?

Or do you mean two people were talking amongst themselves?

even I know that the least you can do is to greet your coworkers

Greeting coworkers is definitely not obligatory, and neither is responding to a nothing greeting. It’s unlikely there’s any hostility or passive aggressiveness.

It’s a ritual you’re used to. It doesn’t mean it’s one they’re obligated to reciprocate.

I was once at a party and I was trying to introduce myself to this person. I put my hand out to shake theirs and they fold there arms up and look away and say hello. How rude. I say what’s up? They, not making eye contact arms folded, ‘Nothing’.

I leave this weird game this person is playing fairly annoyed.

I walk over to a friend, who’s this person who won’t even look at me? ‘Oh that’s Tim, he’s blind.’

If this was a single occurrence, I’d try not to read too much into it. Maybe they were discussing something private and got all weird when interrupted. Maybe the greeting was non-verbal and you missed the cue. If it’s the beginning of the day, they might not be all awake yet, I dunno.

But if it’s a pattern, or this ever happens and it bothers you, you can try to make the most of it. Imagine they wished you their fondest greetings in a Muppets style voice. It costs you nothing and you can’t change anyone else’s behaviour anyway, might as well do something to put a smile on your face.

People are making some good points about cultural background differences and asking whether you have history already.

Others say, keep doing what you do and don’t let them get to you. I want to jump on that bandwagon, this is going to sound silly cringe but…

… greeting in a polite, confident and friendly manner asserts social dominance. You have no fear. You are the initiator; you take the lead. Be that person.

Lots of people are giving you good answers given the context you’ve provided in this post. However, I glanced at your post history and saw that recently you’ve had an outburst at another employee where you shouted at them. It’s likely that your coworkers are looking out for themselves and trying to avoid setting you off by interacting with you as little as possible.