What do people talk about these days?

LMAO!!! I wasnt even paying attention to that im so sorry LOL

I feel naturally shopaholic, but I'm going to meetings, deej.

Don't worry, chevy, it's all good. Before I started buying Saturns (and they're out o' biz, alas), I owned Chevys. Will probably go back to 'em whenever the Black Maria (the current vehicle) finally gives up the ghost.

When I'm outside and see people walking their dogs, I say something if I see something I think is special. People LOVE to talk about their pets. And you usually get to pet a dog in the process. I find this to be a great way to get people to talk.

I usually play "Guess the Breed" when it comes to dogs. My current track record is probably about 95% right. I mistook a Min Pin for a Manchester Terrier recently, and a dog I coulda sworn was a Great Pyrenees was apparently an English Lab.

I think most people love that - you're taking great interest in something they adore. Also, most dogs, in general in the US, are mutts or are Labs (Black, Yellow, Chocolate) or are Golden Retrievers, Chihuahuas or Poodles (any size) or Beagles or, in my neighborhood at least, Pit Bulls. If I'm really unsure, I'll often just say something like, "I bet your dog's part Lab; he's so bouncy." (or whatever). Again, people love this.

I agree. I've had more than one dog thread here, and have yapped on about them on dog threads. I've spent the years between dogs using other people's dogs to get my dog-fix. It's a palliative mode, or was for me. But even now, by circumstances having a new wonderful dog, my eyes swivel to any dog nearby. One pleasure point per siting, as they tend to up my happiness. I also like cats though they make me sneeze and sometimes go into asthma, depending on the cat and proximity. But people aren't ordinarily out walking them. Except Dlowan, such a trooper.

On what to talk about. I used to be the shyest person I'd ever run across, completely self involved with worry, and I lost most of that by getting a job and talking with my workmates. That was after school in high school. I started getting more interested in other people than I was about how shy I was when I found myself next to a person. Just those years working broke down my barriers.

Now the big deal is getting me to shut up.

I've never had trouble striking up a conversation. People in small groups. It's hard to break in. What to do? Find something interesting one of them is wearing. "Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but I noticed that ring. It's beautiful (unusual, stunning). Can I get a closer look?" The person wearing the ring will probably respond positively. Not sure I'd recommend this for a guy.

BTW, I was walking on the street the other day. The man in front of me was walking a dog that had an amazing tail. All brown except for the very tip, which was white. And the only part of the tail that curled was the white part. I said to the man, "That dog has the best tail I've ever seen." He didn't stop talking for ten minutes.

Overall suggestion: Pay close attention to people. There's usually something you'll find that will get a conversation going. I walk with a cane. A beautiful carved cane. Can't tell you how many people have asked me about the cane. You hear someone speaking with an accent. Ask where they're from.

When I was traveling a lot, well, it's lonely. So I'd talk to cab drivers. And of course a lot of them these days aren't from the US originally. So I'd ask - what country are you from? Where is that? How long have you been in America? How do you like it here? And people adore talking about that. Very often these were lonely people, too. It wasn't anyone hitting on anyone. It was just a very human connection. So I've talked to guys from Haiti, the Sudan, that kind of thing. Often they want to practice their English, too, or they'll ask - I read this word recently and I'll spell it because I don't know how to pronounce it. Can you help me? And how can I turn down a request like that?

Like the driver who picked me/us up at Newark, me finding out late in the ride after the others had gotten off that his wife lives in Orlando and he very much wanted to go to California.