Do people talk to you?

WoW! Its beautiful !





David

Actually, I do get asked for directions often (even in Italy like Osso).

OK, you win, Chai!!!! Bingo!

I do get a certain amount of not doing piercing eye engagement in gang territory. Well, I say that, but not sure I did it, remember, I look around curious.

I didn't walk by myself after dark though, for obvious reasons, me being night blind. But while I was close (do murders count?) it wasn't routine that I just ran into a sho line crip out on a path. First of all, they may have been asleep while I was walking. And secondly, no big deal.

So, moving along, I moved north in late 1998, to a totally different place. Turns out, that much as I had gathered from Bay Area friends, there was much resentment about people in southern californi, and people I was introduced to knew I was from there.. First, over the peripheral canal business, and then water generally. And then general snottiness. Think arugula. Many people told me they found Los Angeles unfriendly.

So I was apprehensive on my first long visit back.

Me, I think it's all a piece of cloth. People talked to me as usual. If people didn't talk to me anyplace, it wasn't in Los Angeles. It was when my niece visited back in northern california - there was some snot forthcoming from a city elder, and some harassment from guys in trucks to her..

On words for oneself, last I talked with her about any of this, my niece thinks of herself as mixed, the most interesting people.

I suppose we all talk with each other loaded with opinion. It's interesting when there isn't hostility, but connections.

well, for me the barrier is about not wanting to hear about other people's problems all day and then in my time too.

if people want to have other sorts of talk, and i enjoy it, fine.

Much as green witch and I don't go on and on about garden design. Not to equate the two subjects, but the experience can be similar.

Do they?
Do they ever stop?

I'm not kidding, people talk to me in the street me all the time.
They ask for directions. They talk about the weather. They ask me for a donation. They ask me about weird ingredients in the middle eastern groceries. (As if I'd know.) They ask me (in clothes shops) if the outfit they are trying on suits them or not. They ask me where I bought my sunglasses. They ask me where we've met before. They ask me to get the stuff down from the top shelf in the super market. They ask me if it's about to rain any minute or not ... You have no idea. I am a community talking service!

Mostly though, people just smile & say g'day or hello as we pass each other in the street ... as if they know me. And 99% of the time I haven't a clue who they are. I used to think that they might be some former student, now an unrecognizable adult? (This is always a possibility when you've taught in schools for a long time.) Now I just take all these little encounters in my stride & nod, wave, or smile back. And we go on our way. I figured, quite a while back, that I must have "one of those faces" that people see as familiar. And despite the fact that most likely our paths have never crossed before, it's OK. I've gotten quite used to it now. No harm done.

They lie.
Joe(intimidating. ppffffffttt!)Nation

Awesome story.

OH, sorry - I thought you were an classmate of mine.

Mmmm... you knew me before you met me!

Do people talk to me? Given that I'm in front of a class every working day, they do not have a whole heck of a lot of choice in the matter.

Sounds like an occupational habit to me.

I guess that's better than it being an occupational hazard?

Sure, people talk to me, all the time and always have. They tell/told me their troubles and hopes and I find/found them all intriguing. Maybe we all have open, expectant faces, as if we're waiting for some story and so we get it. But, being a newspaper reporter for so long, I eventually quit talking to strangers. They wanted me to write stories about them. I wanted privacy and quiet time and still can never get enough privacy and quiet time. I am more of a thinker now, than a talker. Always making connections in my mind. Something I read ten years ago, I will get an answer about in a book I read yesterday. I want to know everything.

What has happened to people? Everywhere you go, they sound like all those TV folks butting in on each other, shouting. Crash! Bang! Horrible noises they make with the god-awful music. Sometimes you meet people on the street and (the same) the competition to get a word in, so I appreciate A2K where nobody, for sure, can butt in. Although, you know when someone really wants to.

We were invited to our neighbors' home last Friday. They are Mexican-Americans (born & raised here) and live in a limestone mansion, very Spanish. Such beauty. She is a florist and owns this unbelievable flower shop that is 2stories high. When young they worked very hard (he in the limestone/granite mines) saved enough money to purchase about 600 sq. ft. here in town, opened their doors. Now, they have all the flower business for miles around. Beautiful family, all mixed (African Americans, Asians, Latinas) very calm, relaxed, fun to talk with. So much to talk about, listen to. This was actually their son's 40th birthday party.

I find that some people open up to me too, maybe people sense that you're a good listener and can be trusted.

Certainly!

Well of course you did, Linkat!

Hey, I'm originally from Minnesota and people do talk to each other there. I will never forget coming home from DC and having strangers just start conversations at the airport in Minneapolis. It was really coming home! I am approachable for conversations...I guess I look like I am. Being a nurse, I usually listen and am polite most times. On airplanes, I like to read and not be bothered.

Hello there, Vietnamnurse!
Lovely to see you here again!

Hi there msolga! I guess I have been away a long time. I have been busy with family so much that I rarely check in. I plan to do try to do so more often now. Good to see you too!