Is being nice to people really that far out of the mainstream?

[kick-ass-bob]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x3004246#3004393

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x3004246#3004471

I talk to people I don't know - anyone who looks like they might like talking. (Unless they look at me like I've eaten their first born when I say 'hi') I am not an outgoing person by nature, but isn't life more fun with some interaction? Do you wish people were nicer? Are you nice to them? Think about that.

A little small talk will brighten most everyone's day.
So...
do you talk to strangers?

[ixion]

1. Barbarianism is all the rage these days... and according to the WaPo

women dig it! :puke: :sarcasm: :eyes:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3440371

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. Talk about misconstruing an article.

:eyes:

[redqueen]

6. Well we can't have men not falling into their assigned roles, now, can we?

It's bad enough that women won the right to (mostly) do as they please... now men want that?

HELL NO!

GET BACK IN LINE, SON!

IT'S POWER AND MACHISMO THAT'S IMPORTANT! WOMEN LOVE THAT! NO, REALLY!

:eyes:

[sniffa]

3. i taLk to 90% of the peopLe i come across every day

the majority of the 10% are the smack heads hitting me up for money.

in addition to taLking, i'LL usuaLLy throw some compLiments their way, and hopefuLLy some witty jokes.

[Crankie Avalon]

4. I don't know what comes over some people to make them so unfriendly...

...here's an actual tape recording of a perfectly nice conversation I tried to start up recently: http://www.carlspackler.com/sounds/068.wav

[redqueen]

5. Yes, it's way out of the mainstream.

Niceness is interpreted to be weakness. Strong, individualistic people (read - rude) are all the rage.

If only humans weren't such followers... *sigh*

[amazona]

7. talking to strangers is the culture in Louisiana

I wouldn't consider myself the most outgoing soul in the world but in the land of "gumbo ya-ya" the person who does NOT talk to strangers in the grocery line or whatever would be the oddball.

I do notice that when I travel to some places, perhaps I won't name them here, some people look at you a little oddly if you chirp up with a comment while standing in line or hanging around some public place with strangers. But I'm not really compelled to talk, so if someone seems to want to keep it brief, I just hush up and think my own thoughts.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[Ivan Sputnik]

8. I sometimes do

I was looking at some shoes in a store the other day. Another guy was looking at them, too, and I said to him, "These aren't bad, for the price." He mumbled "yeah," gave me a quick, frightened look, and moved away. I got the impression I shouldn't have spoken. I think a lot of people suspect that strangers who speak to them are trying to scam them somehow or recruit them into a cult. Or something.

[MissMillie]

9. Not only do I talk to strangers....

but I take candy from them too.

[Rob H.]

10. It's funny how people react

I was getting measured for a tuxedo about 10 years ago (groomsman in a friend's wedding) and the woman doing the measuring turned to my mother midway through our conversation and said, "He's so polite!" I realize that it was meant as a compliment to my mom (at least I hope it was) but it struck me funny that for some reason she expected me to be rude. ("I said no cummerbund, damn you!" *thwack*)

Sometimes I just don't get people. :shrug: