Name: Talking to Strangers
Uploaded: 2019-10-22T17:07:03.000Z
Duration: 8 min 32 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

The imperative

Let's pretend you get on the bus and it's SUPER crowded. (CLAUSTROPHOBIA!!!)

The only spot that's open is between two strangers. (J, thinking: Dammit!)

Adverbs of frequency

So you sit down between two people you never met, and everyone is fine.

Sure, your shoulders are touching, (umm, no thank you)

but that's just what happens, that's part of the bus-going experience, [*groan]

So now, you and Window Seat Guy are sitting right next to each other. (okayyy)

you have to be the one to decide... (SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME)

I honestly don't know what the right thing to do in that situation is... (stupid James)

Because if you move it would be silently telling the other person,

"HEY YOU'RE DISGUSTING (but then again, isn't he/she?)

I CAN'T STAND HAVING OUR SHOULDERS TOUCH ANY LONGER

AND I'M GLAD TO FINALLY GET AWAY FROM YOU! UGH!!!!!" (YASS)

But on the other hand, if I was the Window Seat Guy,

I would want the Middle Seat Guy to become the NEW Aisle Seat guy.

I would just want his gross, disgusting body

maybe I'm overthinking everything, and most people don't even mind being this close to another human,

(Women don't get this joke. This joke is sexist)

If you're in the middle urinal, do you move halfway through to the other urinal?

Are you supposed to talk to people when you're sitting two inches away from them? (You seem to be sitting NO inches away from them)

I always felt like I should say SOMETHING, like,

"Hey, did you see the game last night? (NOP)

I didn't. I was too busy drawing cartoons."

I'm worried about not talking to someone, but they're not talking to me either. (They hate you.)

unwritten contract between us that we're not even going to look at each other. (What if he/she's blind?)

It got me thinking about strangers and specifically, how I treat them.

I'm just kidding. That was a joke. (careful m8)

I would go out of my way to avoid talking to people.

I would stay in my lane, mind my own business,

no eye contact! If everyone's using a urinal, I'd have to pee tomorrow!

Yes, I'm lonely. (glad we are in agreement)

I'm interacting with strangers more often than I've had to in my entire life! (J: Gosh darn it)

So I've been thinking a lot about strangers, and first of all, I think the word

is already an insulting label for someone just because you don't know their name.

They probably murder people with an axe!"

That's always the go-to profession of a stranger, an axe murderer.

But the people you see throughout your day are all humans (or NOT)

with their own hopes and dreams, and some of them may hope to kill you,

but you'll never know because you didn't ever take the time to get to know them! (stab)

So I think that the people you see throughout your daily life aren't strangers.

Except for the weird ones obviously, stay away from them. (AWW)

And yes, I'm telling you to judge people based on their appearance. They're the ones that chose to wear anime

So, back to the bus scenario. I'm sitting right next to this fellow human being (you're human?)

So far, there's not a single reason why I should dislike this person.

But I don't know why, if you put him and me on a bus next to each other

I want him as far away from me as possible. (me too)

So that was the last time I took the bus.

Unfortunately, that's not the only place you meet strangers...

One time, I was at Home Depot and I was looking for jumper cables, (ooh, trippy!)

and I couldn't find them anywhere. (blind James) And I don't know if I'm the only human that's like this

But I will try everything in my power to not talk to a sales associate. (AWKWARD)

I guess it's cuz I know they get paid minimum wage and their life sucks and I just want to leave them alone and

not make their job any harder than it has to be.

But asking employees for help isn't even bothering them that much.

In fact, I think it's part of their job? (GENIUS)

Like what's the worst thing they're gonna say?

You don't know where one specific item is?!

They're in the jumper cable aisle! Idiot!"

So, feeling desperate, I mustered up what little courage I had (and it's VERY little)

and swaggered up to someone wearing an orange vest

and said, "U-uh excuse me. Do you know where the jumper cables ar-"

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Talking to Strangers

awkward

weird

potential

struggle