i used to be so anxious and shy i could hardly say a word to my best friends from childhood. you embarrass yourself over and over till it starts to get a little easier. now i can talk to a group of people i dont know well with only a little anxiety

I can, yes. Do I often? I do so less now than I did when I was younger just because I’m not in as many places where random conversations would happen.

As others have said, it takes practice to be able to do that. Along with that, I’d recommend reading up on active listening. A lot of people are happy to talk if others listen.

Yes. What’s blocking you? What circumstances are you in where you want to talk and aren’t?

I do now, tho I prefer to read in silence. What helped me, was to remind myself, that in the grand scheme of things this conversation and any opinion this stranger will have of me is irrelevant.

I’m always sitting primed and ready for some random chit chat but I’m too shy to initiate. If you ever see a mid 20s male sitting alone, he more than likely would be more than happy to talk to you or anyone for that matter.

We don’t get alot of attention when not seeked out :/

Yes, lots. And not because I’m an extrovert. It’s a very commonly used life skill and I wouldn’t, for example, be able to do my job without it.

I have conversations with strangers all day every day. I’m an uber driver. Best job I’ve ever had.

No. Between being really poor about remembering names and whether I’ve met someone before, and always being suspicious about their motives for approaching me, it never goes well.

This past summer I travelled down south and it was a strange experience - people were friendly and wanted to chat, and even be helpful, and not once was there an obvious scam. I’m too old to be discovering something like this but I’ve always been with family or friends or something, or visiting tourist spots, but this time I was wandering in “normal” places. After a week, I was finally open to small talk without suspicion, but what an experience!

gestures to the site we are all using rn

All the time. I don’t know any of you!

I’ll be frank, if you don’t have friends or a partner and you aren’t willing to leave your comfort zone to talk to people then to me it indicates a lack of willingness on your side. Why don’t you want those enough to overcome your faults and just keep at it?

I used to chat up Uber drivers before the pan. I did it mainly to be friendly and because sometimes there’d be a cool story to learn. Now I’m back to ignoring them and being on my phone.

Ive heard this kind of stuff happens in my city more than other big cities. Line at the grocery store or such. It is less than it was when I was a kid and young adult though.

Every single day. I am someone who people just really open up to. I don’t know what it is but I have the craziest conversations.

you can, it just takes practice.

talking to people reminds me how similar everybody is and how connected we all are, regardless of what I read on the internet.

traveling, even to a different town, will make it much more likely you’ll talk to strangers

international travelers are far more gracious and interested in people as a group than any other group I know.

people anywhere, though, seem to enjoy hearing an idle idea or personal observation. a lot of people are lonely or so set in their routine that anything new is exciting, so I’ll try and say something just to let them know that somebody else has noticed they exist.

I love giving small compliments about hair or clothes, because people are invariably shocked to receive them.

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