[Spareribs]

Back in the good old 1950s or even a decade ago, when you would wait in a waiting room perhaps at a doctors office or wait at a bus station, you may notice an interesting stranger and strike up a conversation. The stranger may even be a pretty girl and you would just exchange friendly small talk.
 
These days, many people are addicted to their favorite video game or TV show and they have to watch it on their smart phones. So if you do see a stranger at a train station, it's less likely you will strike up a random conversation. 
 
Perhaps, it's because there is so much entertainment out there and it's so easy to access it on your phone. And maybe talking to strangers is boring  and not a part of the culture as it used to be. Maybe you will miss the opportunity to talk to that pretty girl but on the positive side, being on your phone, you can keep up with the latest current events in the news and be more aware of knowledge of interesting facts from around the world. 
 
What ever the outcome is, people are more quiet and there is more silence.

 

[krismusic]

Often the reason that I don't talk to strangers is that I have my in ears in!

 

[TRapz]

It makes me sad that people no longer talk to each other much. I'm only 16, but I can remember before cell phones going out and hanging out with friends, playing outside, and talking to lots of people. Today, all my friends are on their phones all the time. I admit, I am on my phone and laptop a lot too, but only at home, never when out. I do make time to talk to family often too. But back to strangers, it makes me sad that people don't talk much now. I love talking and I love people, anyone and everyone, discussing almost anything. This past summer, I went to a big camp and saw a pretty girl and went over to talk to her, and while nothing romantic came out of it, we're now good friends and I'm glad I did. This isn't quite as far as talking to a complete stranger, but it still shows how wonderful friends and maybe SOs can come out of simply greeting someone you don't know. I do wish more people, even people who aren't complete strangers, talked more with others.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Nowadays there are people who tell stories that go like this:

Male: Excuse, has the bus passed by yet/is the doctor in yet/(whatever)?
Female: I have a boyfriend.

 

Hasn't happened to me but it's probably because when I talk to strangers it's not even anything innocent questions like that tossed at total strangers, but people hanging out in a smoking area. Smokers I think tend to be more sociable, but now that laws are so strict about smoking in public, I wouldn't be surprised if it subconsciously feels like a ghetto/concentration camp and thus just enhanced the camaraderie between smokers.

 

This was also how I made friends in college who weren't in many (or any) of my classes. I basically studied in the smoking areas in the garden since the coffee machine was nearby (and cheaper than the Starbuck's and Seattle's Best across the street), and people were around for some conversations to keep me awake if not also talk about what we had to study (ever try to read older copies of Kant? I'm in the social sciences but it's just one step above socsci stat).

 

[rdnkjdi]

I agree about the smoke areas.  I never smoked before my little world jaunt for the last nine months thru Thailand, Russia & Sri Lanka.
 
After coming home - I've talked to more people in smoke areas than anywhere else.  The positive part of things is that if & when you figure out how to strike up conversations and take down people's guard you possess a rare skill instead of a common one.
 
I saw a quote the other day from some famous dude that went something like "Confidence is more important than intelligence for good conversation".  It really is true - I had better conversations with complete strangers and google translate than I have with random bar strangers staring at their phones.