tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1949138190662570201.post5673217344981080850..comments2023-07-13T09:03:55.396-07:00Comments on tst ink: Stranger connections - the lost art of being kind for kind's sake aloneTeri Slavik-Tsuyukihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00654672521048039171noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1949138190662570201.post-68430931585297431972009-11-09T12:15:12.855-08:002009-11-09T12:15:12.855-08:00Wow - I had no idea what my innocuous little FB po...Wow - I had no idea what my innocuous little FB post would generate. This is the 3rd blog that I follow that has commented on my post - which involved offering to move from a large table to a smaller one. No big deal - but the waitress was amazed I would do that for total strangers (as were the total strangers!)<br />I chat with people in lineups, crowds, parks - doesn't matter where. I try to avoid the obvioulsy dangerous to talk to people ( the ones that yell angry dijointed statements) but apart from that, anyone is fair game.<br />I would like to know where and when it became so important to keep to ones self - and when all strangers became bad?Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02873370146590480827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1949138190662570201.post-31906494384849028352009-11-09T09:22:17.262-08:002009-11-09T09:22:17.262-08:00When I was a kid, a friend of the family used to t...When I was a kid, a friend of the family used to take me with her on little adventures. We'd go on motorbike rides through corn fields, tour through abandoned buildings, and visit colourful places. Some of those places were half-way houses where this person's friends lived. I remember meeting all sorts of people and having dinner sometimes in a large kitchen filled with picnic type tables and bench chairs (a soup kitchen?) Everyone knew her, and loved seeing me. Growing up I was always taught to not judge people, to 'walk a mile in someone's shoes' and that love was the most important thing.<br /><br />We tend to connect with people we feel equal to, I think. But the fact is that we are all equal, valuable and relevent to eachothers lives. I've had amazing, thoughtful and remarkable conversations with strangers. A mature woman told me she was pregnant before she had discussed it with her family in a bank line up. A man told me he was going back to his drug addiction, so he could be with his girlfriend. The drug addiction he'd kicked was better than being lonely.<br /><br />It's scary though and I don't do it all the time. Like the other person who posted, it's easier when you're feeling positive. You have to have enough of your own energy to share a little of it with someone else.kimberelliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09949147290585036859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1949138190662570201.post-91758907602828315082009-11-08T17:55:04.805-08:002009-11-08T17:55:04.805-08:00This hits close to home. I'll occasionally ch...This hits close to home. I'll occasionally chat people up in line when I'm feeling well or in a good mood. But if I'm having a bad day, I don't make eye contact to discourage strangers from engaging; I just want to take care of business and get out of there. On the other hand, when things are going well, I'll hit someone in line with idle conversation about a shared experience and sometimes it goes OK, but most times not. Some people just aren't into it and feel I'm invading their space or perhaps they think I have some other unctuous motive. It's disturbing at times. I do like, however, to sometimes surprise people because I'm so obviously ethnic (Asian) with no hint of being bi-racial -- that it doesn't always register to some listeners (not all) that I'm speaking perfect, unaccented English.PRTodayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1949138190662570201.post-24518261798550475412009-11-08T14:19:37.951-08:002009-11-08T14:19:37.951-08:00I found this very interesting and it cause me to r...I found this very interesting and it cause me to reflect on my own behaviour with conversational strangers like you.<br /><br />I tend to be one who 'freak(s) out a little bit' when a total stranger chats me up. I will tend to just give a cursory answer about 'the task at hand' and retreat into my own space. <br /><br />I think you are right about having lost the art of conversation... I simply don't have the skills to converse with a stranger. I admire your positive and outgoing nature Teri, and I am going to think about this post next time a stranger offers an opportunity to engage. Who knows, one day I may even open a stranger connection of my own!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09524615635670733224noreply@blogger.com