Great post, as always. Thanks again.

I believe that modern media has dramatized the ‘crazies’ for ratings and coupled with the ongoing “orange” terror threat level people think that a polite stranger has a psychopath agenda.

The cure? Smile and say “hi” to strangers. Let people know that you see them and you accept them. (grain of salt here – don’t get too friendly with Johnny Gangbanger when you’ve got the wife or kids in tow.)

And when you’re in a conversation and don’t know what to say – follow the advice above and ask a question. People love to talk about themselves. Look at me, commenting on a post as a stranger to strangers about what I think. And I wasn’t even asked! = )

people is able to meet others easily, As for me my friends are my co-workers and family

to connect

Reading that book and/or taking the Dale Carnegie course (which is still offered, after nearly 100 years) have greatly improved the lives of many people.

I’ve nodded at people in my apartment complex and said hello and all I get back is a hostile glare. Trying to be friendly to a store clerk by commenting on the day? They’ll look at you blankly as if the effort to drag their minds from their daily routines to respond, even if it is with just a nod and “yeah it is warm today.” seem to be beyond their abilities and they resent you for trying to make them do so.

It is my belief that is just why Facebook, Twitter and the rest of them have become so popular. Because when it comes down to it, people don’t mind reading what others think, but they sure don’t want to have to talk to them to find out.

I was on a flight to Shanghai, China with my family for our 2 weeks of vacation and seeing all the relatives (obviouisily my wife is chinese). Anyway, another family had a sick daughter with them. When we landed in Shanghai, the health authorities boarded the plane to check everyones temperature – and sure enough, she was sick with a flu. They quaratined the back 6 rows of the plane (note to self: NEVER sit in the back of the plane again, that’s where all the bad things happen). So, for the last week, me and 50+ people from that flight have been stuck in a hotel in Shanghai waiting for someone else to get sick. As you can imagine, there’s very little to watch on TV (only 1 channel in english), so there is quite a bit of socialzing out in the halls.

And as fustrating as it’s been to lose a week of vacation, i can say we’ve made several friends, including several new friends for the kids to play with. Some local to us, some father away. It looks like I even picked up a decent business contact from someone. So, there’s always value in talking to people – you’ll never know what you’ll find out.

I like this article. I think it relates to one of your recent articles about keeping a journal. Personally, I have had many interesting encounters with people I just randomly strike up a conversation with and eventually get to know. Even if you don’t end up friends, meeting someone new provides something great to write about in your journal. There are a lot of people out there with a lot of stories to tell.