When asking an American for something, especially when dealing with sales help in stores and markets, extensive preliminary pleasantries are not required as in some other countries. A brief “excuse me” is usually sufficient to get the person's attention, say, when asking for directions. Americans may feel threatened and become suspicious if a stranger begins with a general “hello, how are you?” sequence and does not get to the point of the encounter directly. Americans do exchange pleasantries among people they already know, but even then they are likely to get to the point relatively quickly.