[ryandrake]

True in real life, too. Whenever someone random comes up to me and tries to engage in a conversation, my guard goes up because 9 times out of 10, they are trying to sell me something or scam me. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a woman, where your “safety” alarms are also sounding.

Spontaneous, innocent chit chat is dead, both online and offline because everyone’s hustling now.

[albumen]

Counter example: yesterday I took the train and ferry from london to dublin. Trains are a great way to meet new people, especially if you're sitting facing each other. Person opposite me was interested in the maths book my son was reading. Turns out he's an interrailing applied maths student from Scandinavia. We had a great chat for hours and exchanged numbers. My faith in humanity is not dead yet.

[zerd]

Counter-counter example. When my wife was new to the city she took a bus ride and a girl randomly made contact with her. They hit it off and talked for the whole ride. My wife thought this girl sounds really nice, they actually got into deep conversations, and wanted to exchange numbers so they could hang out some time. Then she asked if she had heard about the book of mormons…

[albumen]

Sorry to hear that. But I was responding to the comment that "Spontaneous, innocent chit chat is dead, both online and offline because everyone’s hustling now". Just one counter example is needed to prove that statement false. Of course, maybe my new contact will betray me and turn out to be a proselytising fundamentalist, but not yet...