This is a wonderful party!

How have you been feeling?

Are you ok?

It sure is nice here...

Anything that joins what the person is doing.

For example....they're reading a book....so I ask What's it about? or say something like "I like mysteries."

I don't say anything; just look at the person and smile a warm smile. And, that seems to open the door to a "hey, how are you? conversation, by the other person, who perks right up and smiles right back at me.

I've found people just love to be smiled at; I think most people don't get a warm smile anymore, and that is why I love to give it.

And, oh those conversations! They can be enlighteners!

The bride and groom look so happy!

Lovely weather weve been having recently!

(Exclamation points, that little verve in our tone of voice, helps carry a conversation along.
It makes us sound full of energy and interesting!)

Hey, thanks for all the great replies in this discussion topic. Is there anyone who has difficulties starting conversations? I know that in my everyday life, I have to be hypersensitive about what I say to other people. For example, I can't ask people what they do for a living because most of the people around me do not have jobs and some of them have never held a job in their lives - they get all of their money from the government. So that leaves out that question. I can't ask them if they would like to go someplace with me because they don't ever go more than a few blocks from the place where they live - they have running water and television in their rooms, and that's all they will ever want or expect from life. Wow, I really do need to find people I can have actual conversations with! That isn't easy where I live.

Beaumont, when I worked in public as a medical clerk, the holidays were a nightmare!

I made the mistake of saying Merry Christmas to a man who turned and said, I dont celebrate Christmas. And I KNOW the politically correct term is Happy Holidays.

Within a WEEK of first experience, I said, Happy Holidays! as a patient left.

He turned and said, You mean, Merry CHRISTMAS!!

After that I just said Goodbye to the patients, mostly.

Yes, I can start conversations easily, so I do have that life skill. I generally know when to be tactful, and keep my mouth shut! Another important life skill!!

I live in Pennsylvania. I say that I'm ready for SPRING......and just about everyone agrees!!!

(Last week I said, they used to go up and SHOOT the groundhog (true).
***Background, the groundhog predicted spring and we just had a late snowfall.****)

I like to compliment people all of the time, so it's easy to start a conversation with them. I even compliment mean people ~ they don't know what to do. I also like " you are looking well. " or " You look great ! I believe that there are people you dislike, but I am never mean to anyone. I usually say, "It's so very nice to meet you."
I like to be very courteous. ( Of course, I have bad days too. )

@ Beau, gosh, there isn't ANYONE in your "neck of the woods" that can relate with you in your present circumstances about the futile effort of looking for work? Maybe they are depressed. I know that most of the folk I know looking for work and unable to find it are very depressed and discouraged. Maybe you could put your thoughts together and "bounce" off one another efforts and areas for job seekers that may be of interest to you all? What one person may not have an interest in or skills for, another might. And, just to be able to get that frustration off your chest is helpful. So many out of work are totally scared sh**less about the jobs situation. I am. I wrestle with ever being able to find a steady job again. But I feel I am realistically just giving into the gloominess of the situation right now. Still, one wonders. And, this mentality is echoed among those unable to find work that have been looking for a long time, such as myself.

As far as the ones receiving their assistance via government social programs, well, they may be surprised when they discover that all but food stamps, social security, social security disability, and state funded medicare, as of the moment, have been WHACKED compliments of the "sequester" aka spending cuts to balance the budget that went into effect on 3/1/13. All of the social programs funded by government have had their funding REDUCED or ELIMINATED, and if you'll follow the current attempt by our Congress to whack at them again that's pending in the Senate, if this bill gets passed through the legislation gets to the President's desk, it's a great possibility that all the government social programs are on the "chopping" block for an additional cut besides those that went into effect on 3/1/13, which now include food stamps and medicaid; so these folk are either going to have to wrestle with how they will manage without the government's help, and be forced to seek jobs that probably they won't get hired either, unless they get lucky. Contrary to what the media and our government touts, there "ain"t no jobs". The only ones are out here, if one is lucky to get those, are low pay, minimum wage or slightly higher, at part-time positions or through temp services that make it almost impossible for a family to live on without some sort of government assistance. So there is a real problem that is like an economic tsunami headed out way. In my opinion, we need adjustments to the government assistance programs, but we are desperate for jobs that can provide a decent means of a living right now, and since we don't have jobs now, to be whacking so feverishly at these programs is going to cause public chaos. And, with the government mandated healthcare law now putting pressure on the employers to provide employees with healthcare, this makes it even more difficult to get hired, because employers are forced to either provide healthcare for their workers or have to pay a fine to the government for not doing so. We have a real mess that is brewing on top of the real mess that this country of ours is in. So, it may not be very safe for you where you are at, in case people get desperate because of lack of funding from the government that will really be felt, most of us following the current trend believes, within the next 6 months. I don't want to scare you, only make you aware of what is coming down the pipeline. We, who are watching this trend through the "eyes" of economic insiders, i.e. watchdogs, all hope we are very, very wrong; but the future does not look too encouraging right now on the economic scene.

bump

Catwoman137, the only topics of conversation the people around me are interested in are: Do you have any money for me? Do you have any drugs for me? Do you want to buy some drugs? Do you have any money so I can buy some beer? My answer is always no, but they persist with this outrageous begging every time I am within speaking distance of them. They are only interested in using people for what they can get from them. It's been so long since I've had an actual conversation with a normal person that I've forgotten how to do it, if I ever did know how. It's very depressing to be around people of such low caliber all the time and to have no mentally healthy people to speak with. That's why I have begun looking for a real job that pays real money so I can hopefully spend some time away from the losers in life.

Maybe in the future we can discuss how to get out of a conversation that isn't going well. Let's get back to our topic.

What do you like to do for fun?
Do you have a favorite quote?
Do you have any pets?
What did you want to do for a living when you were a child?