I’m turning into my mother.

My OH will - and does - talk to anyone and everyone. I, on the other hand, can go shopping and return home without ever having interacted with another human (thank you for self-scan/self-service checkouts)! Maybe it's a legacy of spending my entire working life talking to (interviewing) other humans. I regularly go for a week or more without talking to anyone else apart from my OH.

Years ago I held a door open for an old lady to go into Marks and Spencer; we exhanged a couple of words about the weather or similar, and she said I was the first person she had spoken to all week. I have never forgotten her, and so wish I had asked her to have a cup of tea in the cafe. I was young and busy with small children; she was old and lonely, and for that reason I will happily chat to anyone. It's life enhancing for more reasons that perhaps we might realise.

Oreo

Sometimes, yes, particularly at bus stops, often get a good natter in.
Don’t worry we all turn into our Mothers eventually.🤭

God, I hope I never do! I'd never inflict that on my own children!

Another one here, daughter gets very embarrassed. I find most people quite like to have a jolly chat and a laugh!
Keep chatting ladies and cheer the world up!

Chocolatelovinggran

I do : my children are horrified. They say " If the Mad Axeman of Kent turned up, he'd surrender to the police pretty quickly after half an hour of Mum asking him where he's from, and asking about his family"

😂 love it

Wonderful, NanKate!

NanKate

I was in Nationwide the other day and talking to the Teller who usually serves me. She complimented me on my brightly coloured shoulder bag and I told her I had matching coloured knickers on - truly. 😳 She couldn’t stop laughing. 😆

😂😂

I was in Nationwide the other day and talking to the Teller who usually serves me. She complimented me on my brightly coloured shoulder bag and I told her I had matching coloured knickers on - truly. 😳 She couldn’t stop laughing. 😆

I dont mind a chat but my Dd is something else. She seems to know and chat to everyone near or far. She doesn’t drive so spends a lot of time at bus stops.
When I’m out with her, people come up to her all the time . Sometimes I walk on 😉.

I take after my dad and talk to strangers, though hopefully am not OTT and pick up the vibes. My introvert and private DH usually embarrassed ....

I can relate to this and love how you compliment people on their clothes. It’s sharing joy 😊
A smile given or a conversation with a stranger is what makes life so beautiful so
keep doing it. I was in a retail outlet the other day talking to the assistant and a sales rep. His phone rang with an AC/DC ringtone. I started dancing and then we had a conversation about rock music. It made my day (and his I think.)

One thing that does annoy me is people who insist on holding lengthy conversations with waiters/waitresses stopping them from serving other customers. I was in a restaurant recently and a couple were actually interrogating the waiter who was from abroad. Poor chap was obviously uncomfortable but too polite to walk off.

The one thing I absolutely have not turned into is my mother.

Much as I loved her, we were chalk and cheese in everything we did and thought and our looks were very different. She had tight curly hair and mine is dead straight and that applied to everything.

No one has ever said I am like my mother, not even my nearest and dearest who knew us both very well.

In Scotland it's usual and normal to chat to strangers.
It's probably the commonest "Scotland" thing remarked on by American tourists here.

It's also normal when out walking your dog, to greet and be greeted by every passing person ; "good morning/afternoon " etc.

I've only got to stand still for a minute and someone tells me their life story. I don't talk to them, can't get a word in. My husband thinks it's hilarious.

My favourite interaction was when a young man with Downs Syndrome asked me to dance in Woolworths. We waltzed round the store as his mother and my husband watched admiringly. Poor young man didn't realise he'd picked someone with two left feet but he carried it off well.

It is a favourite memory.

My mother talking to strangers was a fine art. Her specialty was inviting them home to dinner where her DD (me) had to cook for them.

An extreme example was when she chatted up a nun on a cross channel ferry, discovered she had a sister living in our town so gave the nun my phone number. Several months later that nun came and spent a couple of nights here. Mother was nowhere to be seen.

And another time, DM stayed with us during the Edinburgh Festival and got chatting to an American family on the bus. They all came to dinner. I must say they turned out to be extremely generous, arrived with flowers and chocs and sent us boxes of preserved fruit from California every year for the next 5 years!

Actually my mother wasn't much of one for talking to strangers, but I'll talk to almost anyone. I find most people are quite happy to have compliments about their clothes, and if you happen to catch someone's eye when something funny happens you can get into quite a long conversation. Last time I was shopping in Waitrose I saw an African girl and told her how much I liked her necklace, she told me how much she liked mine, and that led us on to clothes and colours until her friend dragged her away to get lunch.

I don't ever want to ve like my mother but I will happily chat to all and sundry.

Yes I talk to strangers, always have , remember that song by Jim Reeves...A stranger's just a friend you do not know

Bus stop chats are great. Why not chat as everyone is just stood there waiting for the bus. I've had some really interesting conversations which continue on the bus too.

I do - mostly chat at bus stops which often carries on when we get on the bus. Have met some lovely people this way. One time after a very pleasant chat with an older gent he offered to drive me home. Very tongue in cheek, I thanked him but said that my mother always drilled into me never to accept lifts from strangers. We both parted company chuckling.

I don’t often actively instigate conversations with strangers but, somehow people seem to be drawn to start conversations with me. Most of the time this is very nice but, unfortunately I also get the odd one who wants to tell me the story of their life. Sometimes I could tell you more about the stranger I met at the bus stop than a neighbour who I’ve known for years!

I do - however I’m mindful of the response when engaging. I do often say “oh I like your dress” or “love your hair” with a smile but I don’t linger to chat and ask 20 questions.

I do : my children are horrified. They say " If the Mad Axeman of Kent turned up, he'd surrender to the police pretty quickly after half an hour of Mum asking him where he's from, and asking about his family"

Me too! Most people respond happily, but if they seem a little reticent, I shut up! It’s funny, I chat in the dentist waiting room, but never in the doctor’s. Don’t know why, it just seems to happen that way.
I came out of a shop recently to find a lady outside with a sweet little puppy.
‘Oh, what a little cutie,’ I said. She laughed and said that actually was the puppy’s name.
She was waiting for her daughter who was treating them to cream cakes.