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10. Try to strike up a conversation with the stranger you’ll be sitting next to for the next X hours. I’m not even an extrovert, but this is my favorite part of

by js2 9y ago

10. Try to strike up a conversation with the stranger you’ll be sitting next to for the next X hours. I’m not even an extrovert, but this is my favorite part of flying. I’ve sat next to some really interesting people. Some folks don’t want to chat but in my experience that’s pretty rare. Some strangers I’ve previously sat next to: a retired nurse flying to take care of her mother in law who had dementia; a radiologist who had previously been a physicist at fermilab returning from an MRI conference; a bar tender/stripper; an evangelical who hosted asian exchange students; a heart surgeon who specialized in ablasions for treating a-fib; a 60’ish year-old man flying for his first time; a nanny/aupair; a Jewish grad student from Cape Town. The flights pass so much more quickly when you’re engaged in conversation, and it’s pretty easy to get most people talking. Two of those passengers mentioned above I ended up in a car with. I gave the evangelical a ride to his hotel since it was on the way home from the airport for me. And with the radiologist we missed our connecting flight and rented a car together to drive the last 150 miles.

ringaroundthetx 9y ago
> Some folks don’t want to chat but in my experience that’s pretty rare. My favorite part is the plethora of entertainment options these days, catching up on all the movies, which seems to be the more common thing people opt to do. I've been on a lot of flights over the past several years and what you describe seems to be a serious outlier.
mattlondon 9y ago
Hmm. Strangers trying to talk to me for the next X hours is one of the worst things that can happen on a flight for me. Even if they do respect my wishes and dont try and talk to me (doesn't always happen), you then have the remaining 10h 59m of the flight to sit awkwardly knowing that you've both managed to annoy each other for trying to instigate something for your own selfish reasons that the other person doesn't want (i.e. you want to talk and they dont, or you dont want to talk and they do - no one wins). Or worse if you dont manage to stop the conversation attempt early, you end up talking to someone for the better part of 10 or 11 hours just out of politeness and all that work/reading/sleep/coding you wanted to get done are lost while someone drones on and on about their garden or their last trip to <destination> Please - only start conversations if you're really sure the other person is interested in talking to you! Particularly on long-haul flights! YMMV I guess - I suppose on short-haul (<1.5 hours) it would be ok, but please please please never do this on long flights! :-)
- HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
  My Mileage definitely Varies. The pretty girl who struck up a conversation with me on the leg from Minneapolis to Regina, SK was a large part of the reason I decided to move to Minnesota. Single, introverted me decided that if women in MN were as attractive and outgoing as her, it should be a nice place to live. She turned out to be Canadian, but I moved to Minnesota anyway. Still loving it 20 years later!
spaceseaman 9y ago
> Try to strike up a conversation with the stranger you’ll be sitting next to for the next X hours. I absolutely despise being spoken to when I'm on a plane (usually because I'm taking early morning flights and am utterly exhausted). Just keep in mind many people reallllly don't want to talk to anyone, so if they are curt or not very talkative don't take it personally. Some people just don't like talking to strangers.
davidmurdoch 9y ago
I enjoy a little bit of chatting with the person next to me, though I've regretted starting conversations a few times, as some people seem to have to talk on a plane... the entire time. So, just be aware that some people are just friendly and will keep talking to you because it's polite, but they will still show signs that they're done, like: looking out the window for a while, only responding with head-nods and "mhmm"s, pulling a laptop or tablet out, putting in noise-cancelling headphones, sleeping.
nunez 9y ago
There are few things I fear more than being forced into a three hour conversation when I just want to work or browse reddit/hacker news

by js2 9y ago

ringaroundthetx 9y ago

> Some folks don’t want to chat but in my experience that’s pretty rare. My favorite part is the plethora of entertainment options these days, catching up on all the movies, which seems to be the more common thing people opt to do. I've been on a lot of flights over the past several years and what you describe seems to be a serious outlier.

mattlondon 9y ago

Hmm. Strangers trying to talk to me for the next X hours is one of the worst things that can happen on a flight for me. Even if they do respect my wishes and dont try and talk to me (doesn't always happen), you then have the remaining 10h 59m of the flight to sit awkwardly knowing that you've both managed to annoy each other for trying to instigate something for your own selfish reasons that the other person doesn't want (i.e. you want to talk and they dont, or you dont want to talk and they do - no one wins). Or worse if you dont manage to stop the conversation attempt early, you end up talking to someone for the better part of 10 or 11 hours just out of politeness and all that work/reading/sleep/coding you wanted to get done are lost while someone drones on and on about their garden or their last trip to <destination> Please - only start conversations if you're really sure the other person is interested in talking to you! Particularly on long-haul flights! YMMV I guess - I suppose on short-haul (<1.5 hours) it would be ok, but please please please never do this on long flights! :-)

HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
My Mileage definitely Varies. The pretty girl who struck up a conversation with me on the leg from Minneapolis to Regina, SK was a large part of the reason I decided to move to Minnesota. Single, introverted me decided that if women in MN were as attractive and outgoing as her, it should be a nice place to live. She turned out to be Canadian, but I moved to Minnesota anyway. Still loving it 20 years later!

spaceseaman 9y ago

> Try to strike up a conversation with the stranger you’ll be sitting next to for the next X hours. I absolutely despise being spoken to when I'm on a plane (usually because I'm taking early morning flights and am utterly exhausted). Just keep in mind many people reallllly don't want to talk to anyone, so if they are curt or not very talkative don't take it personally. Some people just don't like talking to strangers.

davidmurdoch 9y ago

I enjoy a little bit of chatting with the person next to me, though I've regretted starting conversations a few times, as some people seem to have to talk on a plane... the entire time. So, just be aware that some people are just friendly and will keep talking to you because it's polite, but they will still show signs that they're done, like: looking out the window for a while, only responding with head-nods and "mhmm"s, pulling a laptop or tablet out, putting in noise-cancelling headphones, sleeping.

nunez 9y ago

There are few things I fear more than being forced into a three hour conversation when I just want to work or browse reddit/hacker news