Random Strangers
29
August
I’m on holidays at the moment. It’s really fantastic. I’m hiding away down at my parents’ beach house in Blairgowrie, which is about an hour and twenty minutes out of Melbourne. I went for a walk along a trail that led to Bushranger’s Bay. In true holiday style I forgot to pack one thing - my camera. These were taken using a Nokia 6230i with a 1.3 megapixel camera. Not bad for an old phone.
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Apart from gloating about the fact I’m on holidays, in true beezhouse style I noticed something while I was walking. When you walk down the street, whether it’s in your neighbourhood or through the city, you speak to people you know. Strangers are to be shunned at all costs. There were a few people out walking the same trail I was on. In fact, in the hour and a half that I was walking, I saw four people. I’ve never met these people before and probably wouldn’t give them a second thought on any other given day.
Nonetheless, we all exchanged greetings with one another. “How’s the walk going?” “Not bad, but these steps are a real bitch coming back”. There must be something about being isolated from people that we feel the need to speak to the first random stranger we happen to cross paths with. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a problem talking to strangers, it just seems that most strangers have a problem with talking to me. It’s not like I’m asking for their life story.
I was reminded of an interesting idea I had about six months ago. I hate public transport and resented the one day per week I had to catch it. Thankfully, my iPod kept me in my own little comfort zone, away from the freaks chroming on the opposite side of the tram. Didn’t stop the ticket inspectors though. So, my idea? See if I can share my earphones with a complete stranger on the tram and see if they like at least some of my taste in music. Well, the main focus is whether they’ll share at all. I haven’t had to catch public transport for a while so I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to try this out. If you have the urge to do this yourself and try to share your earphones, I encourage you to do so. Let me know what happens via ozatbeezhousedotcom.
1. MonkeyBoy | August 29th, 2006 at 19:00
Can you stop posting beautiful pictures of beaches and the ocean? I haven’t seen the ocean in over 6 months and I’m not happy Jan!
Your post about people saying hi is very interesting. This various in countries I think. Here in Germany if you walk along the street in a major city, nobody will say hello. However, in smaller towns, it happens all the time. You have no idea who they are, but people will greet you from all angles. It’s actually quite a nice thing. Unusual, but nice.
You’re right when you say it seems to happen when people are a little isolated, but it also seems to happen when we are sharing a moment together (not romantically) with other people we don’t know. Take for example skiing. You’re skiing, you’ve gone a little off track, and pretty much anyone else you see there in your area will start chatting with you. Or even when you’re at a sporting event, people sitting next to you will occassionaly start chatting. It seems to as though the human brain says, “wow, this guy/girl is a bit like me, or as cool as me, or interested in the same things as me, therefore I will say hello”.
As to your suggestion about sharing your iPod, no thanks. There are enough freaks on trains, so I probably will be waiting to see what happens when you try it.
2. Revelations - beezhouse.com | August 31st, 2006 at 18:33
[...] Now, somewhat surprisingly (or then again, perhaps not), I work in the service industry. It is, alas, a students lot. You see and speak with a lot of people. Over a decade of working in this industry has only confirmed my views. There are of course exceptions, there always are. However, people are becoming more and more self centered, more inconsiderate. It’s why our Prime Minister can lie his arse off, but the only thing that upsets people is higher fuel prices and rising interest rates. It’s why pensioners lie dead in their cars for over a week before somebody rings the paramedics (as if it would help). As for Oz and the sharing of his iPod, some sick fuck is more likely to stab you for it. The chromer on the other side of the tram most likely! [...]