How To Chat With A Stranger On A Train

Cui Han

Academic Essay

Instructor Kear

May 5, 2013

61012210

How to Chat with Strangers on a Train

During a long boring train trip, a person wants to chat with someone while he/she has no companion with him/her. Chatting with a stranger may be his/her only option. However, most of us may feel too shy to chat up a stranger. In fact, it is not an awful thing to communicate with a new companion. Only if the person chooses a suitable person, use a proper way to begin discussion and talk about an interesting topic, he/she will enjoy himself/herself by chatting.

There are a variety of people on a train, just like a small society. The passenger sitting on his/her opposite side can be a teacher, a worker, a cook, a farmer… Choosing the right person is his/her first step. He/she can learn a lot about their identity and characteristic from their clothes, appearance and paying attention to details of personal things. According to these clues, he/she may have known part of them, so he/she can choose one of them by his/her willing. The golden rule for his/her choice is trying to choose a person who has similarities with him/her as much as possible.

Satisfied with his/her choice, he/she have to make some practical actions. Find opportunities to have some eye contact with that person to impress him/her. After that, he/she can add smiles to his/her face, which makes him/her look friendly. His/her first sentence is so

important that it judges his/her success or failure. Here are some tips for him/her. Do not ask questions, because people are defensive to strangers. A silly question only makes that person avoid chatting with him/her. Do not be too enthusiastic to that person as he/she is not familiar with that person. It will cause the person’s uneasiness. The person may think that you have some shameless intention. The correct action is starting a dialogue peacefully. He/she can make some complaints about the weather or the food on train, which arouses the person’s resonance. His/her goal is to remove the person’s defense. During the dialogue, he/she still should keep something in mind. Do not be aggressive whatever that person says. As we all know, nothing is worse than a conflict on the train. Do not try to inquire about the person’s private affairs unless the person tells him/her initiatively.

Following the tips above, he/she is almost a nice person to talk with before learn to find an interesting topic. What is an interesting topic? It is not just amusing or funny but critical and meaningful. The topic must attract their attention and they both have own comments on it, which will help create a nice chat. They can share their own opinions with each other. He/she has to select a topic that they both have knowledge about. For example, he/she cannot talk about babysitting with a young man. It is possible that he/she has no idea what is the person’s area. Under this circumstance, he/she can observe the reaction when he/she mention a topic. Do not insist on one topic if that person shows no enthusiasm. Another way to find the an interesting topic is let the person choose a topic instead of you do.

Now that we have got some skills, why not have a trial next time when we have a long trip on train? Maybe we will make a new friend or even meet our lifelong companion. Talking to someone friendly about an interesting topic is more interesting than reading a book silently

or watching a movie on a laptop. Open your heart and joy will come.