Now the speech police are going after small talk

NY Post ^ | July 23, 2017 | Karol Markowicz

[Tax-chick]

Young people of either sex feel uncertain, vulnerable, judged, in a way that older people probably don’t. As my 80-year-old mother says, “Do we know these people? Do we care what they think about us? No, we don’t!”

[sheana]

I was a bartender for 20 years. I always said...I can talk to anybody about anything....for about 5 minutes. lol After 20 years of that I don’t talk to people anymore when I go places. I have a couple of friends that will and can talk to anyone. When I go places with either of them I tell them...no talking! Don’t start a friggen conversation with a stranger! haha

[Tax-chick]

It depends on one’s life experiences. I can understand why a bartender would want to not talk to people off the job. On the other hand, stay-at-home parents are often desperate for any kind of adult conversation, even with the cashier at Walmart.

[Geronimo]

I have an English accent and have been asked at least 100k times where I’m from during nearly every interaction I’ve had in the past twenty years...I usually throw it back with, ‘Have a guess..’

I’ve had people say France, Italy, Ireland but mainly England...there was a guy in California once who wanted to know how I learnt to speak American, swear to God!...

[ichabod1]

Hmmm... I replied to you on another thread that men can’t be friends with each other because it’s too gay, and you concurred that that is the spirit of the times. What you say here exposits more of the issue - the sexualization of everything.

[Jamestown1630]

I enjoy all these random encounters. And I often find that some quiet, shy people actually appreciate being engaged - you can see it in their faces, as if they’re pleased to have some attention paid to them.

A smile and a little small talk are the beginnings of all friendships.

[usconservative]

With everybody glued to their d*** smartphones, who talks to other people these days?

Not me, I just want people to leave me the hell alone!

[Tax-chick]

When there’s a feeling that people only speak or act with the intent of getting sex, it makes every interaction seem pretty creepy. Even young people in prime mating age like to be able to say something neutral, “Wow, that’s a lot of weight!” “Thanks, I’ve been lifting for several years.” without its being taken as, “I want to f*** you. You?”

And if people are attracted to one another at all, the expectation of instant sex makes it hard to start getting to know a person through casual interaction like chatting at a gym you both frequent. It takes a little time even to decide whether you’d like to get to know a person better by, say, getting a smoothie at the smoothie bar right over there and sitting at a table for a few minutes.

[fr_freak]

...that men can’t be friends with each other because it’s too gay...

I've had this same conversation with friends of mine, where one of the biggest casualties of all of the promotion of homosexuality is the stigmatization of male friendships. It could be an unintended consequence, but given that a bunch of terms like "bromance" have popped up to describe men's friendships, I think not. Just another way to isolate good men to weaken them. Nothing is more dangerous to the ruling elite than good men having time to gather together and discuss the goings-on of the day and forming community bonds.

That said, all men should refuse to give a damn about pop culture nonsense, and should still seek out like-minded men for good friendships, and take the time to meet up regularly. If nothing else, it does a man good to get away from all of the constant noise of women and the pop culture that exists to serve/manipulate them.