Talking to strangers

I'm currently in a phase of life where I travel a lot (bus, coach, train, plane, *insert your own communal mode of transport*) and I see so many people from all different walks of life. Most of them just seem to be bored, looking into space (although some are busy reading, texting etc). I appreciate that lots of you like that silence, but some of you (like me) must be intrigued and want to talk to these new people.

I do that sometimes and it's fascinating sharing stories/meeting up again- widening your horizons on an otherwise mundane lengthy trip! No matter how boring some people are, they always have a few interesting tales to tell and who knows you might meet some special

Anyways I am just fishing for opinions........

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Reply 1

xStaceyy

17

The last thing I want when I'm travelling to uni is someone talking to me.
I just want to be left in peace to read my metro and check facebook every five seconds :P

Got negged quite a bit for this haha, you people take things so seriously.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 2

chelseafan

21

I'd find a complete stranger talking to me a bit weird....

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 3

Enigma Machine

20

My dad's a bit like you. Every time he travels abroad, he always meets new people on the air plane or at the airport, and then he becomes good friends with them and we have them around our house etc. I'm amazed at how he does it, it kinda makes me want to go travelling.

I think it's a good thing, it'd be quite entertaining if someone spoke to me while travelling imo.

Reply 4

dave_123

9

I'm a bit like that, though i don't just rock up and start chatting to anyone as that could be annoying. I like my silence and looking out the window doing sweet nothing but i've also met some cool people on transport. It's just a case of gauging the situation and allowing conversation to spark up naturally, which you have to be aware more often than not isn't going to happen.

Reply 5

SaiDuc

2

Original post by chelseafan

I'd find a complete stranger talking to me a but weird....

I agree. Chances are, I don;t want to talk to them (I prefer silence in my daily journey to school :frown:

) and even if they continued talking to me, I wouldn't share any stories.

Reply 6

Thatstudentdude

14

I bet you're that one that when you get on the bus, everyone puts their bags on the empty seat next to them.

Agree with others, I wouldn't want to talk to a stranger on public transport. I enjoy just getting along by myself, and find it really annoying having to try and make false conversation with people I'd rather ignore.

Reply 7

lilytheblue

i love it when strangers start talking to me!! i even sometimes chat to people on the train and at the station, some people are really taken aback, like 'why are you talking to me?!' and some are really chilled about it. people dont realise that we are all very similar at heart and isolate themselves

Reply 8

Jalk

4

Depends who starts talking to you I guess

Reply 9

Octohedral

16

I wish I could do that! I never talk to people, because I'm afraid it'll come across as creepy, but I agree it's such a social barrier that isn't even necessary. Plus, I'm a 20 year old female, so I'm hardly threatening to most of the adult population.

Original post by Thatstudentdude

I bet you're that one that when you get on the bus, everyone puts their bags on the empty seat next to them.

Agree with others, I wouldn't want to talk to a stranger on public transport. I enjoy just getting along by myself, and find it really annoying having to try and make false conversation with people I'd rather ignore.

I appreciate that - I reckon I'd get the negative vibes pretty quickly though. It's more for the people who do want to talk, and the only thing stopping them is social ettiquette. No reason it has to be false conversation, either :smile:

Reply 10

C1hill

OP

Obviously it would only be on longer trips and with people you've made good eye contact with before. But everyone's different

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Reply 11

SpiggyTopes

14

It's nice when somebody starts talking to you but for some reason I never start these conversations with strangers.

Reply 12

dgeorge

12

Original post by C1hill

Obviously it would only be on longer trips and with people you've made good eye contact with before. But everyone's different

Posted from TSR Mobile

Do it all the time. It IS interesting, and fun.

My only rules

1. Only join into a conversation if you WANT to have one - don't do convo for convos sake
2. Make sure you put in genuine effort and energy into the conversation - nothing worse than having a boring convo with someone you don't know!

Can't tell you how many people I've met at a club/bus/train/random restuarant

Reply 13

RedArrow

3

Once in the hospital, I had a conversation with the FINANCE MANAGER OF E&Y.

I had an internship booked there and I would have taken it had it come sooner. B)

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Reply 14

nicknames

8

Especially on longer trips, such as aeroplane journeys, I try to make conversation with person next to me; seems a bit awkward to me to sit next to someone for 6 hours and not find out a bit about them - you never know what you might find out? :smile:

Reply 15

Chlorophile

20

I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to start a conversation with a stranger per se, but you also have to realise that a lot of people aren't chatty and don't particularly want to talk. You should accept it if they simply say 'No, thanks'.

Reply 16

Lucozade sport

I would like to speak to more strangers, but, something always holds me back, I know it's weird, but, I think to myself, what if this person is like Phil Mitchell ? I know he's not real, but, he's a scary guy, and I don't know if strangers are like that or not.

Also, I'd think they'd think I'm weird.

Don't let that stop you OP, though, it's worth a try.

Reply 17

Jaegon Targaryen

2

Those nights when you go out with mates , drink and meet random people are amongst the most memorablle moments ever. I think restricting the grounds upon what freindships and relationships can be made purely to clubs , work or school is quite silly. I personally love feeling like part of a community and get a real sense of satisfaction when I speak to a stranger . Everyone gets so caught up in their lifestyles rushing around like ants in a hive all fussed about their sole lives that they forget we are the same race , I get that speaking on buses might not be the best location but I think its quite sad that everyone is so "out for themselves" in london.

Reply 18

Future African game vet

11

Ooooh I love doing this :P I always end up talking to random people on the 4ish hour train journey to uni from home/ vice versa, at the end or beginning of terms.
Im not always the one to start the conversations, whenever I go anywhere people just tend to talk to me (Idk why... I must just have a face that says "please talk to me!!") I love it though- it makes the journey go much faster, and some people are really interesting... though once they find out you're a vet the conversation generally goes from civil to " oh, so you put our hand up cows arses" in pretty record time :rolleyes:

It would be such a ool way to meet a future partner :tongue:

Reply 19

dgeorge

12

Original post by Future African game vet

Ooooh I love doing this :P I always end up talking to random people on the 4ish hour train journey to uni from home/ vice versa, at the end or beginning of terms.
Im not always the one to start the conversations, whenever I go anywhere people just tend to talk to me (Idk why... I must just have a face that says "please talk to me!!") I love it though- it makes the journey go much faster, and some people are really interesting... though once they find out you're a vet the conversation generally goes from civil to " oh, so you put our hand up cows arses" in pretty record time :rolleyes:

It would be such a ool way to meet a future partner :tongue:

Wow that's a great conversation starter

Talking to strangers

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