I was interested to read in The Sunday Times about a study in which researchers asked commuters in the Chicago area to participate. Half of those who volunteered were asked to speak to the person who sat next to them on the train while the other half were asked to keep to themselves. Not surprising to me, the researchers found that the commuters who spoke to the strangers seated next to them reported having a more positive commute than those that kept to themselves.

The results of this study were not surprising to me as my children accuse me of embarrassing them by talking to everybody and anybody. I will talk to the person sitting next to me at the nail salon, standing in front of me on line at the grocery store, or sitting next to me in a waiting room. I generally enjoy these conversations and, very often, use them as opportunities to network. Interestingly, the only time I generally do not talk to strangers is on the train as I look forward to spending the time reading. But I may, in the future, begin to talk more to people sitting next to me on the train.

Do you talk to strangers?

PS Thank you to Don Bernstein who really outdid himself with our Story Week last week.