Lonely?

Vancouver has been voted as one of the hardest places to get to know people. I beleive this is because we are too worried about offending people so we don't do anything. Getting to know people is hard because we are worried about what they will think of us. Humans are judgemental. Period. It can be a good thing and keep us safe. Like judging if a car is going to stop for us at the crosswalk or judging if walking down a backalley is a good idea. Judging character can also be a good thing, knowing if people are trust worthy or not. But we usually take the judgements too far and avoid contact with other people to protect ourselves.

It always makes me happy when I am walking and someone says goodmorning to me but I am often afraid of that possible awkwardness that greeting a stranger can bring so I don't initiate. Vancouver would be a friendlier place if people weren't afraid to make small talk to strangers when walking or on the skytrain. Yes, initiating is hard but I have decided that if it makes me happy it will make others happy. I am going to try to greet everyone I walk by that is not obviously busy with something else. And to those that are busy I will make a conscious effort to smile. Who's with me?


I know it is a small thing to say hi to people but it works. In Junior High I had an awkward acqaintancship with Sue, one of my classmates. I became convinced through a few months that Sue, though that's not her name, didn't like me at all. I was encouraged by outside sources to just say hi everyday and see what happenned. Well, it was hard to remember and at the begginning it was wierd because she was surprised. We weren't ever friends but eventually saying hi led to extra smiles in the hallway and I no longer thought she didn't like me. That was probably me being over judgemental anyway.