> ask the people you're waiting in line alongside if they have any good jokes.

I know no one who tries striking up a conversation with strangers, and I feel like the majority of strangers would be annoyed/uncomfortable with this.

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aljgz 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I feel the same.

Sometimes, I work against this and start conversations.

Rarely people are annoyed. Too often, they seem happy someone breaks their shell, they just don't want to be that person who takes the first step.

Every time I see a new person I still feel the same.

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bluGill 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Somehow everyone gets friends - which means at some point in life everyone did talk to a stranger.

	▲	jader201 40 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I feel like there are natural settings for making friends. E.g. - Frequenting the same restaurants/stores (HT earlier sibling comment) - Joining clubs/communities/churches - Parents of kids’ friends - Networking: Friends of family / family of friends / friends of friends - Workplace (obviously) I feel like this is how friendships/relationships happen more organically vs. the OP’s suggestion of talking to “someone waiting in line”.
	▲	em-bee 31 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		for me the key difference is who initiates the conversation. i never do, unless i have to. but i want to talk to people, so my approach is to put myself into situations where they want to talk to me. the next issue is that sometimes the conversation is boring. that's stressful, but i have more control here because i can try to change the topic. i already know that this person wants to talk, so now it's my turn to probe and find out if they want to talk about something that i find interesting. it helps to have a wide range of interests, and for me the main problem is meaningless smalltalk, but anything deeper that is of interest to the other person is ok again. i act like i am amateur anthropologist. tell me something about yourself...