[rimliu]

  > Chat with people. Say hello. Make eye contact.
  > Exercise the social skills that help you make
  > unplanned interactions mutually enjoyable.

But please, do not do it with me. I love walking and long walks (just this month I've done three ~40km walks). I fully agree with a few of your points (like keeping phone and earbuds away), but why does not concept of consent apply to chat? When I am walking it is kind of meditation for me and the last thing I want it for some random guy to start small talk. If one wants to improve social skills, why not to start by learning where small talk is appropriate and expected and where one should not do it?

"Unplanned interactions" is very annoying thing, and I guess that is true not only for me but for other introverts too.

[throwanem]

Well, one doesn't wish to be an importunate jackass, either - and avoiding that is a social skill worth having, too. You work your way up from eye contact, to a nonverbal or verbal greeting, possibly to conversation if there's a subject of sufficient interest to all parties - but probably not, unless you both happen to be walking the same way, at the same pace; you're more likely to get into a conversation at a bar or a café than while actually walking. You pay attention to your intuition for people and don't insist on yourself when you get the feeling it isn't welcome. And you don't belabor someone who's clearly not interested in playing along, save in rare exceptional circumstance such as frank physical distress.

I'm a strong introvert in my own right. I assiduously avoided unplanned interaction for years - I still do, often enough, when I've drawn heavily on my reserves and need to recover. But I no longer always avoid them, and I think I'm better off for that. I like to hope that, on balance, the people around whom I tend to turn up are better off for it, too.

(Related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14889190)

[ForRealsies]

>"Unplanned interactions" is very annoying thing

Most on HN would find the most fulfillment in improving their social muscle, not their calves.

[throwanem]

Improving your calves is not nothing, though. Every day is leg day when you commute by foot!

(Now if only it were so effective for one's core and upper body...)

[magic_beans]

Do you hate unplanned interaction because it is unenjoyable for you? For most people, it's immensely pleasurable.