Somehow that single sentence started a conversation that lasted 2 hours and the duration of my bus ride from Palmerston North to Wellington.
I met a girl called 'Addie' from Boston. We talked about 'college', New Zealand, Politics, Drinking, school, snobs, fashion. I think we almost covered every topic possible. It was enlightening to talk to someone who lived so far away from my little Palmerston North bubble and knew absolutely nothing about me.
I guess that's a big excitement about talking to strangers. They don't know anything about you. They haven't heard your favorite anecdotes or your description of the dangers of horse riding or your addiction to colour blocking. Strangers seem interested in these little spiels, although that may also be because as you get to know someone then the level of required politeness decreases. Moreover the conversation is fresh and unpredictable. There's no way to know the experiences that the person has had or their personal opinions. You start the conversation with no idea where it's going to end up. They may be interested in ultimate frisbee or fire twirling. Nine times out of ten it's usually something that you know very little about so you get an opportunity to grow your own knowledge. I can now proudly say that I actually understand the rules of ultimate frisbee (despite being a club member for the last year...)
The big point of this post is to say that you should talk to strangers.
They're often quite interesting people with interesting things to say. If it seems intimidating then simply think to yourself 'would I like someone to start a conversation with me?' The answer is probably 'yes' unless you hate conversation which is very antisocial. The stranger is probably quite glad to have a conversation with you during a bus journey to help pass the time.
Plus the best thing is that as you talk to a stranger then they slowly morph from a weird, scary, potential murderer into a friendly, funny person.
Song Addiction of the Day
Radio - Lana Del Rey
No comments:
Post a Comment