this isn’t some like, anti-“stranger danger” thing. it’s a little more like

kill the part of your brain that says chatting to strangers is bad

admittedly, for this to go consistently well, you've gotta be decent at reading people – know when they're disinterested, they want to leave, you need to drop the topic, all that. helps to know how to drive the conversation too; can you wind things down in a way that isn't too abrupt? drag it toward what you're interested in, or away from what you're not?

and, a big plus: have a guess how you can get better at each and every one of these things

chat to strangers!

people are interesting, and you can talk to them. anything from letting someone know their shoelace is undone to jumping into full just-like-we're-old-friends conversation; it's fun, and if you're anything like me, either could be the highlight of your day.

you: ok why are you saying this now though

first off, rude. this is just one of my personal beliefs. but

i was at the train station! and there's a type of train you never see here, just parked up!! so i performed the default action of any female born after 1993 and took some photos of it sitting there, and some videos of it starting to pull away. but as it (confusingly) pulled back in, i realised,,,,

so i did! strolled up to the tail end of the train, chatted to someone also hanging out down there that seemed to be a railfan, and when the guard popped out of the cab, i threw out a

hey, how much can you tell us about what y'all are up to?

the initial response, well... if this was an rpg (idk i've never played one) you'd assume i'd screwed up hard.

what do you mean?

but i knew what i meant, so

you just don't see these trains out here that often!

the floodgates open

i got a lovely infodump about the network, about scheduling, about why these trains are rare out here. learned some terminology i didn't know. and after all that, got to thank them for the chat as they dangled out of the open door of the now departing train cab.

i'd like to think we both walked away happy.

this is good and special and makes me happy

this is extremely true and important in my opinion

love this post. talk to people about things it's free and beautiful

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The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will, one day, venture to the stars.

- Carl Sagan

don't forget that interacting with others is one of lifes fundamental joys. do not deprive yourself of that joy