Earlier in the week I was thinking about--and coincidentally it came up in conversation with Madmojo today--how often we say hi to strangers. Not very! We might say "Good morning" in passing, but saying hello without further conversation is a little weird.
How often do you meet someone new? How often do you make a friend as a result of talking to a stranger and not meeting this person through friends? It's not easy in L.A. or the Inland Empire.
I've actually done it by being on the bus so often. It's rare, but it's happened for me. I think people naturally want to be helpful and friendly, but because it's awkward and strange to engage someone, we don't do it as often as we'd like. My first thought when approached is usually, "Is this person dangerous, mentally retarded, or both?"
I was in line at Costco for a combo slice and a churro. Long line. The woman in front of me was talking to her friend very loudly. Not sure what she was saying. My ears only perked up when she said, "Remember watching Giant Robot?" She stretched her arms out in front of her like she was flying and started humming the theme song. WHOA! THIS WOMAN RULES! I actually stopped and looked at her--like, how can I jump into this conversation?--she's obviously a bit older than I am if she remembers the show. Really, if she didn't speak as loudly as she does, I would have never known we'd have anything in common. Different age group, race, background...I say nothing. We buy our food and go our separate ways. When I saw that she was wearing a Jagermeister t-shirt, I knew, under different circumstances, we would definitely be friends. A younger version of myself would have said something.
This was last week. It still bothers me.
Since 2006
6 comments:
People in certain countries like Belgium and France say hello to strangers all the time. It's considered polite to greet people in elevators or passing each other in a corridor even if you're pretty sure you'll never see them again in your life.
As for spontaneously talking to cool-seeming people, I say go ahead. What's the worst that could happen - they take out a knife and stab you?
i only started to greet people in 2004. the gm i worked for (at a hospital) was canadian and told me that a greeting puts people at ease so i started doing it and found that it made ME feel better.
i also notice that my coworkers would talk shit if certain managers didn't say hi to them every event so i make it mandatory now. not for their sake but for mine. i want to be remembered as the person who would take half a second to say hi and see how they are doing...ya know?
there's been times where i'll see someone with band or art tshirts and want to say something but i get too shy. i'm working on it. it doesn't help that my husband will say "nerd" lol
A Soc experiment! Sounds like our elevator experiment in redlow!
I say hello to strangers in my neighborhood, like if some gringo is walking their labrador right past my house as I check my mail.
Sometimes a random fellow will say hello to me in Trader Joes but I say nothing back because clearly he's not wondering where the egg salad is. He's wondering where MY egg salad is. And if it's creamy.
You could move to a cold small town. We ALL know each other.
@Blue Lass I went to college in a smallish town and it seemed like all the locals ever talked about was GETTING OUT. Everyone knows each other and their business...
There, I knew a lot of people and the few that I didn't, I made sure to talk to. (A lot of them were real creeps!) Maybe it wasn't my youth at all, but just part of living in a small community. I will say this though, Inland Empire people are friendlier in general.
I was not at an Empire Costco at the time.
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