Talking to strangers
I went to a certain fitness centre to take my test recently. Somehow I always feel that in the fitness centres, people are more willing to open up and talk to any random strangers. It could be someone that just happen to be beside you at the point of time. It is quite amazing actually, it is very different from the 'world outside'.
Strangers have talked to me as I was running/walking around the track or while I was standing around, while waiting for further instruction. It could just be a one liner or some random comments but still something you rarely see in this country.
Or maybe I just happen not to meet that out-going type of people outside. I have also notice people of a certain age tend to engage in friendly banter with strangers more, particularly middle-aged people especially those in their fifties or sixties.
There was this person who my friend met once last year, only once, a year ago, at the same fitness centre. They had engaged in some friendly banter last year. They did not contact with each other after that fateful day, and I even doubt if they actually remembered each other names.
By coincidence, a year later, he too decided to have his test on the same day we are having. The scence was quite amusing. The person saw my friend from a distance, and immediately walked towards us, saying a rather loud 'hey' in a very friendly manner. Haha, it was like old friends catching up except that they only met once, a year ago at that.
Just a few days back, while I was waiting for my bus, some uncle asked me for directions to a certain block, after telling him the bus he should take to reach his destinations, we engaged in some small talk. He was saying that he has 10 children, of 4 who are actually twins, and how they are now all so busy and they could not bring him to this particular place. He also mentioned about his grandson, a secondary school student, who is participating in this year ndp. When my bus came, as we parted, he even pat me on my back and asked me to 'take care'.
It is rare to get that kind of warmth from a total stranger. Human warmth is something you rarely see in this bustling city of ours.
les
Strangers have talked to me as I was running/walking around the track or while I was standing around, while waiting for further instruction. It could just be a one liner or some random comments but still something you rarely see in this country.
Or maybe I just happen not to meet that out-going type of people outside. I have also notice people of a certain age tend to engage in friendly banter with strangers more, particularly middle-aged people especially those in their fifties or sixties.
There was this person who my friend met once last year, only once, a year ago, at the same fitness centre. They had engaged in some friendly banter last year. They did not contact with each other after that fateful day, and I even doubt if they actually remembered each other names.
By coincidence, a year later, he too decided to have his test on the same day we are having. The scence was quite amusing. The person saw my friend from a distance, and immediately walked towards us, saying a rather loud 'hey' in a very friendly manner. Haha, it was like old friends catching up except that they only met once, a year ago at that.
Just a few days back, while I was waiting for my bus, some uncle asked me for directions to a certain block, after telling him the bus he should take to reach his destinations, we engaged in some small talk. He was saying that he has 10 children, of 4 who are actually twins, and how they are now all so busy and they could not bring him to this particular place. He also mentioned about his grandson, a secondary school student, who is participating in this year ndp. When my bus came, as we parted, he even pat me on my back and asked me to 'take care'.
It is rare to get that kind of warmth from a total stranger. Human warmth is something you rarely see in this bustling city of ours.
les
posted by yaogui at
11:00 AM
