My teenagers are aghast when their father and I make conversation with strangers at the gym. Someone makes eye contact as he wipes his brow, and I’ll say, “Warmer than usual in here ...,” and the next thing, you’re talking about his exercise program or the fact that the a/c is off at his house and his HVAC contractor is so-and-so, and darn, I know him, he goes to my church ...,” and the teens look at you like you’ve suddenly levitated or grown a second head.
My 23-year-old son says that younger people “can’t” do this sort of thing because they interpret even the blandest statement, like, “That machine has been broken all week,” as a sexual advance.
Young women hate it when random men try to flirt with them. Then they get to be our age and miss those days...
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
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.