Talking to strangers

A couple of weeks ago as I was walking down the street in my Parkdale neighborhood first thing in the morning a elderly women smiled at me and said good morning. I was so busy looking around to see who she was talking to that I almost didn't respond. When I did realize that she was talking to me, I mumbled a quick hello and walked off.

This made me start to think about my jadedness. The women who wished me a good morning probably grew up in a time very different from our own. A time when strangers were not things to be feared, when people would strike up conversations with others on the bus, whether or not they knew them. Sure enough, in the past couple of weeks I've watched interactions between strangers in public. On the King Street car I watched as a young girl gave up her seat to a man, as she was getting off in a few stops, and then she tried to start a conversation with him. All he really had to do was keep a conversation going with a nice, young girl for less than 10 minutes. All he could muster was a few short and curt responses to what she was saying.

For my part I don't think I have ever started a conversation with a stranger but whenever a conversation is started with me I try my best to keep up my end.

There is a wonderful story here about what can happen when we do talk to strangers.