When I was young, I generally avoided eye contact with people, but working in a research library broke me of this habit (you can't help people at an information desk unless you look at them for clues about their needs).
I usually make eye contact now just to find that person in the people sea that is not staring at their phone. I try not to be a creeper though. Just an acknowledgement that we are both taking a break from the screenlords and their algorithms for that moment.
