I used to be so embarrassed as a child when my parents would strike up a conversation with a total stranger.
Just chit chat, about this and that.
I remember wanting to disappear into the sidewalk whenever they would hail a stranger, "Nice weather today, eh?", or "Gorgeous baby you have there!"
Little did I know at the time that several decades later, I would be doing exactly the same thing.
Engaging a total stranger in chit chat.
While waiting in line at the supermarket.
Or with the supermarket checkout person.
With the receptionist at the dentist.
Just chit chat.
About this and that.
About nothing, really.
Nothing that will change the world.
Nothing that will upset anyone's political or religious views.
Or discover any new planets. Or life forms. Or invent any new discoveries.
Just chit chat.
Small talk.
Idle banter that engages another human being.
I read a study once that essentially said that small talk can actually increase a person's dopamine level, the "feel good" hormone. Small talk, it said, also reduces stress, makes people happy, and can even make people smarter.
Anyone can do it.
Everyone should do it.
When I am around ANYONE these days, I feel obliged to say a few words. To engage in a question or two. To break the proverbial ice with a comment or three. General comments that no one would take offence to. But enough that perhaps, if they feel so inclined, they might respond to. To engage.
I feel younger people these days would rather be engaged in their technology than other real people, a.k.a. live humans.
I feel that disconnect so readily, that I nearly weep for what will become of them.
I hope that when they are several decades into their own lives, that they will realize that the humans around them are what counts in the grand scheme of things. Not the virtual people/games/pets that are on their phones and tablets.
And so I will continue to try to engage in that seemingly meaningless, idle banter, the small talk, that I consider to be big talk, in so many other ways.