stranger danger | an observation

Since I have started working in retail talking to strangers has become part of my job. To be honest I'm pretty darn good at it. Saying hello, having a little chat about what they have been up to, throw in a complement, have a little joke, sell them some clothes, say 'thanks, we'll see you next time!' is all good fun.
The problem is that after a few days of working my brain gets stuck on costoumer service mode and I find myself saying "Hey!" to strangers in the supermarket. Or asking the lady washing her hands next to me in the ladies bathroom how she is going - awkward like I want to know how she went in the toilet!

I got thinking about this idea that strangers are dangerous. Haven't we all been told at some point in our life 'don't talk to strangers.' If you have ever heard the story of Little Red Riding Hood then you know what happens if you stop and talk to someone you don't know.

Since a small age we have been taught to keep to ourselves. Now don't get me wrong I understand why, sometimes strangers are scary stabber men or 'wolf's' but mostly they're not.
Mostly they are perfectly normal people - or as normal as any of us are. Who have families and jobs and lives totally separate from ours. Really that's what makes them strangers, the fact that their lives are completely separate from ours. I just wonder what would happen if we stopped treating strangers as scary dangerous wolves and started treating them as people worthy of our time. Can you image if you chatted to people on public transport, or said good morning to the person ahead of you in the line at the coffee shop.

I know what you're thinking: 'people will think I'm strange.' Maybe. But that's the kind of thinking I'm talking about. We would rather play on our phones then interact with the nice lady sitting next to us.

I'm not saying you should strike up a conversation with everyone you see. I'm just saying maybe strangers aren't as scary as we have always thought. Maybe they are nice people, just waiting for you to say hello.