This week’s blog, entitled “Always Talk to Strangers,” focuses on women who grew up talking to strangers every chance they got. This, of course, goes against the stigma that talking to strangers, especially for women, is unadvised as it can often be considered dangerous. This topic was presented by way of Bianca Giaever’s podcast entitled “She Does.” Giaever has done work for both Radiolab and This American Life. Giaever argues that while talking to strangers can indeed be intimidating, and is certainly inadvisable at times, more often than not doing so will open new avenues for potentially great and meaningful social interactions. While some of her guest speaker shared tales of success in their interactions with strangers, others offered their struggle in breaking out of their comfort zones. In particular, one her guest speakers relayed the story of getting her heart severely broken by a man, and the difficulty she continually faced in overcoming her fear to trust anyone around her or even take a chance at talking to strange new men she encountered.

As someone who perhaps does not take enough chances when it comes to talking to strangers, I can sympathize with some of the individuals in this podcast. Not only can talking to complete strangers be terrifying, but it can also be threatening in select situations. Still, I can recall specific instances in my life in which I have spoken to strangers and have actually gotten a lot out of the interaction. One example that comes to mind is when I took a chance by striking up a conversation with a girl sitting next to me in a psychology class, and ended up happily dating her for 6 months. So, what’s the real lesson here? Use your personal judgment when deciding whether or not to talk to a stranger, and, should everything appear to be normal enough, take a chance. Because you never know. 

http://www.shedoespodcast.com/listen/bianca-giaever