Strike up a conversation
—If there’s one thing Yr Fthfl Srvnt learned since his wife died it’s strike up a conversation; people love to talk, especially women.
If I crash in flames, try again with someone else. You’ll quickly find someone who loves to talk.
Yesterday I hiked Lehigh Valley RailTrail in honor of my dog, who I just lost.
I hiked the distance my dog and I woulda walked, about 2.8 miles. A bicyclist was resting on a rock where I turn around. Would I get there before she left?
I did. She was fiddling her Smartphone, so I asked her what it was.
Off we went = ice broken = yada-yada-yada-yada.
And she kept smiling at me: “No one will talk to you! You are DISGUSTING!” Yet this lady wouldn’t stop.
She coulda cut us off, and got back on her bicycle. But NO! We were talking = having fun. She loved it! Not gorgeous, but she kept smiling at me.
I had similar encounters in my past since my wife died. Months ago I started talking to another lady and she wouldn’t stop. We talked at least 20 minutes, and she kept smiling at me, lighting up the surrounding woods.
I could see it: “This guy is really interesting!” She became embarrassed we were having so much fun it wasn’t fair to her husband back home.
It was me who cut her off, as it usually is, but we were striking sparks. All I had to do was keep talking, and she wouldn’t leave.
No grab-ass, no being forward, just talk.
And I discover this doesn’t happen just with women.
Men are less inclined, especially if young.
Returned to my car, a guy was parked next to me, and he was setting up his bicycle to ride the rail-trail.
Do I say anything or not?
“Yer gonna get mauled by mosquitoes,” I said.
Yada-yada-yada-yada = Off we went.
His wife-daughter-whatever was with him, and she started yammering with me.
After the rail-trail I went to a supermarket to hit my in-store pharmacy.
A guy pulled in with his giant Ford pickup, and parked behind me. He got out of his truck and “ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!”
“The sound of a Ford product telling you ya left your key in the ignition,” I commented.
Off we went. He heard what I said, then “let ‘em steal it. It’s a work truck.”
“I got a story if you wanna hear it,” I said as we walked into the supermarket.
He stopped in his tracks, and wheeled around.
“NO ONE WILL TALK TO YOU!” Versus he wanted to hear my story.
“My kid brother has a GMC truck. He left the key in the ignition, and his truck locked us out. We had to get triple-A, and we were down in PA.
At least Fords have that keypad in the door, and you can be damn sure I have that code in my wallet.”
As always, it was me cutting off my conversation with that bicycle-lady. “I'd like to be able to eat my breakfast before 4 PM, and I sure am glad I said something.”
She smiled — how many times have I concluded a conversation with that?
If I crash in flames, try again with someone else. You’ll quickly find someone who loves to talk.
Yesterday I hiked Lehigh Valley RailTrail in honor of my dog, who I just lost.
I hiked the distance my dog and I woulda walked, about 2.8 miles. A bicyclist was resting on a rock where I turn around. Would I get there before she left?
I did. She was fiddling her Smartphone, so I asked her what it was.
Off we went = ice broken = yada-yada-yada-yada.
And she kept smiling at me: “No one will talk to you! You are DISGUSTING!” Yet this lady wouldn’t stop.
She coulda cut us off, and got back on her bicycle. But NO! We were talking = having fun. She loved it! Not gorgeous, but she kept smiling at me.
I had similar encounters in my past since my wife died. Months ago I started talking to another lady and she wouldn’t stop. We talked at least 20 minutes, and she kept smiling at me, lighting up the surrounding woods.
I could see it: “This guy is really interesting!” She became embarrassed we were having so much fun it wasn’t fair to her husband back home.
It was me who cut her off, as it usually is, but we were striking sparks. All I had to do was keep talking, and she wouldn’t leave.
No grab-ass, no being forward, just talk.
And I discover this doesn’t happen just with women.
Men are less inclined, especially if young.
Returned to my car, a guy was parked next to me, and he was setting up his bicycle to ride the rail-trail.
Do I say anything or not?
“Yer gonna get mauled by mosquitoes,” I said.
Yada-yada-yada-yada = Off we went.
His wife-daughter-whatever was with him, and she started yammering with me.
After the rail-trail I went to a supermarket to hit my in-store pharmacy.
A guy pulled in with his giant Ford pickup, and parked behind me. He got out of his truck and “ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!”
“The sound of a Ford product telling you ya left your key in the ignition,” I commented.
Off we went. He heard what I said, then “let ‘em steal it. It’s a work truck.”
“I got a story if you wanna hear it,” I said as we walked into the supermarket.
He stopped in his tracks, and wheeled around.
“NO ONE WILL TALK TO YOU!” Versus he wanted to hear my story.
“My kid brother has a GMC truck. He left the key in the ignition, and his truck locked us out. We had to get triple-A, and we were down in PA.
At least Fords have that keypad in the door, and you can be damn sure I have that code in my wallet.”
As always, it was me cutting off my conversation with that bicycle-lady. “I'd like to be able to eat my breakfast before 4 PM, and I sure am glad I said something.”
She smiled — how many times have I concluded a conversation with that?
Labels: Relations with the opposite sex
posted by BobbaLew at 10:14 AM
2 Comments:
I love to talk, to anyone! I think in this day and time (not in the pandemic) the problem is everyone is so busy they do not like to take the time to just talk, have a conversation, about anything with anyone.
I'm a talker and so was my husband. He could connect with anyone especially when it came to insects. He was manufacturers rep (sales), electrical engineer by education so his ability to, as Bob puts it, "strike up a conversation" was amazing. I like to talk with people about their travels, where they grew up, their family -- I always learn something new which is really great, especially at my age. Just when I think I've heard it all, something new pops into my life. And so it goes -- it is a good day when I meet someone new, or a friend, or a neighbor, just to say "hi".
Janet
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