No name basis “generally” means this. However for me it holds a different meaning. Have you struck a great conversation with someone on a train/flight/airport/bus…Actually anyplace, anyone… A complete Stranger!!
I enjoy these conversations a lot. They are informative, very casual, negligibly opinionated about the stranger and over all a fantastic way to while the time.
I usually love to talk about places, books, food, careers, b-schools etc etc. Silence is the key here to strike a great conversation. Listen to what the other person is saying, their perspectives might just change the way you look at things.
Also it might just make someone’s day too. Stone silence with oneself is almost like counting the sheep while you are wide awake, it has no point. One must certainly be careful while striking a conversation and be alert at all time.
This post is a past of A-Z Blogging challenge.
Cheers,
Pinksocks
Pinksocks's Weblog 
Oh yes! Having conversations with co-passengers (strangers) is sometimes such a wonderful experience… you may learn so much, may realize that you have a lot in common, may get to hear some really funny and interesting stories!
Sometimes when you talk with complete strangers you end up revealing more that you ever would with people you know 😛 On a train in Ontario a Brazilian lady told me all about her affair with an American man and how she crossed the border every week to meet him 😛
This occurs more on holidays rather than on your regular route – most people put on their ipods and move into their own world.
I’ve made up entire lives in conversations with strangers…comes with being a fiction writer, I guess. 🙂
Oh! yes…have a lot many of these. They really connect you with the other, they are the need of the hour.
We Indians are really good at giving and extracting information from strangers!
It’s true that we can have wonderful discussions with complete strangers. Perhaps knowing that we will never see each other again lowers our barriers!
I totally get this. I recently met this Tamil lady who does social outreach work in the North East (Mizoram or Manipur I think). Loved my conversation with her at the Ranchi airport. Seriously regret losing her visiting card 😦
I always start conversations with strangers and learn so many new things in the process. One lady I met at the dentist’s office told me about her work with the SPCA and also her fear of dentists and syringes 🙂
I agree with you, we learn so much from strangers, once i was waiting for the doctor at a clinic, and i found one lady sharing about her daughter who was a special child, my heart went out for her, and i could see how much she was struggling to bring up her child ! I was impressed by her perseverance and devotion to that little child ! thanks for sharing !
i rarely talk to strangers. And its coz i am generally shy and like to mind my own business. but yes , just listening to others around you can be a good learning source.