Asking Pointed Questions to Strangers

Suppose I were to walk up to a stranger and begin to ask that person about their interests, skills, and personal history. In the first place they may feel put out by me imposing on THEIR time and space. Secondly, they may be suspicious because I am a stranger to them, one individual whose motives for approaching them is unclear. And if the person I approach in this manner happens to be a woman, she may then possibly jump straight to the conclusion that I am trying to pick her up!

Which takes me in two different directions: making friends and the U.S. Census. Starting with the latter, there seems to be confusion among some elements of the population about the propriety of the Census in the first place. As if it were some dastardly, sinister plot of the big, bad government designed to mark different people for later persecution. Actually, though, the Census is embedded within the U.S. Constitution and is necessary to determine how much representation different areas get in Congress, according to their populations. Those living in areas like arch-conservative Michelle Bachmann’s Minnesota district who heed her advice to shun the Census are only helping to disenfranchise their voice in Congress by doing this. But most folks have no qualms about answering the few, simple questions on the form and returning it, postage paid. After all, we’re pretty much already trained in the ritual of form-filling through applications and medical forms. Compared to them, the Census questions are hardly intrusive.

As to asking pointed, personal questions to strangers in order to see if some of them could be potential friends, I wonder if it wouldn’t be a fun experiment for me to try out. I would need to go to a public place that I usually don’t frequent, preferably in a different town if possible. And then begin conversations with people where I ask their names, what they do for a living, what their interests, are, their marital status, children, religion, politics, hobbies, and so on. Of course, I need to do this in a friendly manner while being prepared to diplomatically “retreat” from hostile people.

Why bring this up? Because people deliberately set out to present themselves in public settings, and then once they are there they erect all kinds of walls around themselves. How about “being” public while you’re “in” the public? Exactly what kind of privacy are people trying to protect anyway? I am not the State; I am an individual as they are. I can ask people anything I want, and they are free to either answer me or refuse. After all, how can people stop being strangers unless they get to know each other?