Talk to one new person every day

Well, I didn’t really do this the past two days. Unless you count talking to people online, and after thinking about it, I decided that no, it doesn’t count. Only face-to-face talking counts.

So, when I was walking from the bus stop to my office this morning (about 8 blocks) I said hi to a pretty girl. She seemed surprised and didn’t really respond other than looking at me. I might have waited until I was too close to say something.

Then, a half-block later, I said hi to an older man in a wheelchair. He seemed surprised, too, but it felt more like he was just surprised someone noticed him.

Then I flirted with the barista at Starbucks. Turns out she’s actually the store manager, and today is her Friday, although she might have to come in tomorrow.

I’ll hopefully have more stories later today, and of course for the rest of my week.

Problems I’ve noticed are: saying something too close to a person, not giving them time to respond, and feeling odd for interrupting people.

It helps that I’ve been in a good mood lately…

Meeting people is hard for me. So many excuses; that little voice in the back of my head often talks me out of taking a chance, or interrupting people, or tells me that I look like a slob or I’m too old or or or…

I have, in the past, set goals of talking to at least 10 people in a weekend, or 5 people a day… but, really, I should start easy. I’m going to try to talk to one new person a day.

I can make small talk, and that’s all I’m requiring here of myself. I’m not looking for phone numbers, or dates, or life-long deep friendships. Just a simple conversation with someone I’ve never met before.

I’ll report back here in a week, with hopefully at least seven new stories to tell!