Our goodbyes

Conspiracy theories. Talking about conspiracy theories with a stranger is the best fun ever. Because then we can walk away after a good satisfying conversation but then neither of us nutcases have to deal with each other anymore.

Football, weather or politics.

/s

I’ve thought about it a bit. Someone talk to me about WavPack. I fucking love WavPack! It is the best lossless audio codec.

Pizza

Hobbies. Be it music, video games, tabletop games, or even sports.

worshipping my rooster

My most recent meaningful conversations at the bus stop in the past year were:

• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with a middle aged gentlemen who struck up a conversation having seen my work badge
• a guy who’d had his phone stolen reflecting on the ways it had allowed him to be more mindful of his own thoughts and disengage from toxic people
• a homeless woman who lived at the bus stop for a while with her husband discussing her personal safety as a homeless woman (her husband needed to go do something that wouldn’t take long, and he had waited for me to come out and wait for the bus to go do it, and came back before the bus arrived).

And I made friends with the homeless guys outside my last apartment by stopping to pet their dog (and later stealing wound care supplies from work for it).

I find other people interesting for the most part, and have a large enough breadth of knowledge to at least ask interesting questions about most things. Tradespeople in particular know some fascinating things

I once asked a man in a work vest who was marking the road what the colors were for and he said the different colors were different utility lines (water, power, etc). My follow-up question was how he knew where they were and it turned out the pole with the paint sprayer also had a special metal detector that could pick up on each line’s unique type of tag.

And the guy who fixed my dryer had an utterly wild list of things that he’s pulled out of vents and explained that the little vent covers on the outside of the building were specifically designed to safely prevent endangered birds from nesting in them since they like the warmth but can get injured or damage the vent in doing so.

I generally find that tradespeople like being asked questions about what they do. I don’t think a lot of people ask. And if they don’t I apologize and keep it moving.

I’d like to talk about the awesome employment opportunity they have for me that pays decently, has good benefits, and is doing something beneficial for the world, hopefully nonprofit.

If that’s not an option, I guess cats.

Video games

The British have this down to a science;

1. Start with pleasantries “you good?” Essential, always say “I’m good” if asked this or similar regardless of your mood, use tone to convey the actuality if you wanna be unguarded
2. Talk about the weather
3. End with the pleasantries, something that implies you will see em again, even if you know you won’t

food! food is such a great communicator of who you are and what you’ve experienced

Travel. Where are you going next, what’s your favourite country, all that. Met someone yesterday who’s going to Vegas, and has booked a helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon and tickets to a Barry Manilow show. She hasn’t been there since the 80s and is pretty excited. She and her husband usually holiday in Turkey.

Places. Where people grew up, where they have traveled, where they have lived. Maybe even where they would want to go. This leads to other topics and lets you talk about something not too personal to start.

Animals(pets or nature), woodworking, cars(anything with an engine), communication towers (climbing), fishing, movies,

I’m known to be a pretty good listener too, unless you ask my wife.