Day Two

I find the method of social interactions for this beginning stage to be most interesting.  Here is a short example of how these conversations generally go.  I shall be using a student of the same gender for this example.

I approach. “Greetings, I am Michael.”

He turns with a grin. “Oh hey!  I’m James.”

We proceed to shake hands.

I instigate conversation. “Where are you from, James?”

James replies with enthusiasm. “I’m from California.”

I make note of the difference in geography. “Oh.  Then this is a rather large change for you, yes?”

He agrees and notes the change of weather. “Yeah.  We get into the hundreds in California, but not regularly like this.”

Short pause.

He attempts to keep the conversation alive. “So where you from?”

I attempt to assist his attempt. “I am from a small town, approximately an hour and a half from here.”

He is running out of ideas. “Okay, cool.  What’s your major?”

I reply. “I am studying Creative Writing.”

He has no interest in the subject.  “Really?  That’s pretty cool. Haven’t heard that one yet.”

I reply with the expected question. “What are you studying?”

He returns with the average answer. “I’m in business.”

I attempt to compliment it. “Very nice.”

He is out of ideas. “Yeah.”

Long pause.

He finds a way to escape the conversation. “Oh hey!  There’s some other person I’ve never met before.  Gotta go.  Nice meeting you.”

That is what is considered to be correct conversation at this stage in the “college experience”, as it is called, and that is the majority of all conversation.  However, if one is very lucky, one might find a kindred spirit with whom one has enough in common to strike up a relationship.  And I believe that it is a saying that it is not the quantity, but the quality that matters.