Revised - Social Interaction part III

My first interaction was with Jason, the random class-mate I talked to last week. I asked him if he remembers me and engaged in a good conversation with him. We continued the discussion from class and exchanged personal opinions. I paid attention and reflected interest when he talked.

The second interaction was with a customer service operator from Gaico. I applied the principles and Sheila, the operator, was very engaging. She was trying to do her job, but did not try to change the topic. We were laughing and the interaction was going very well. She wasn’t even upset when I didn’t end up buying any auto insurance.

My third interaction was very interesting. I went to the dining hall and didn’t have my card with me. I figured it before I got to the dining hall and thought it is a good opportunity to apply these principles. I called her by her name and asked how she is doing. We chatted for a little while, and I mentioned as a side note that I forgot my ID but she didn’t care and she let me through.

My fourth interaction was with a person from retail. I needed to buy a tie, and the person that assisted me was Andrew. I interacted with him and asked him about his life, which he seemed to be glad to be asked about. I continued showing interest in him but had to interrupt it when it was too much. I believe he didn’t notice that I got annoyed. To keep it positive, I incorporated another sales person to our conversation.

The fifth interaction was Sharron; the other sales person from the fourth interaction. I approached her by saying that a woman’s opinion should be considered. Both were comfortable with the situation, and Sharron was even very open and willing to continue the conversation some other time. (That was an unexpected side effect of the principles.)

The sixth person I talked to was James, a parking valet at Colonial Parking in DC. The situation allowed a conversation and I thought it is probably a good idea to make him a friend. After all he was handling my car. We chatted for a while and he noticed that I drive a stick shift. That gave material for a good conversation. It went so good that he gave me a ticket for an hour only despite my plan to stay there for the day, and I had told him that.

The seventh interaction was with a person from register office. I approached her smiling and introduced myself. As I asked her for her name, I got the feeling that she was distracted. I tried to make her feel good but she was not really into that. So I just finished why I came and left.

The eighth interaction I had was in a Chevy Chase bank in Silver Spring, with one of the bank personnel. She introduced herself before I could ask for her name, and we immediately engaged in a conversation that was personal. I gave her the feeling that she is important and interesting; I laughed and confirmed her throughout the interaction. I completely forgot that I wasn’t done and left. When I noticed it outside and returned, she was already smiling and waiting for me to come back.

The ninth interaction was with a UMBC bus driver. I sometimes take the UNBC shuttle service and I wondered if the drivers get a lot of conversations with the passengers. So, I introduced myself and ask him that question, and one led to the other topic and we ended up talking the whole ride long.

The last interaction I had was with a friend of a friend that I have met once before. I approached her and we got to talk. We interacted for a while, and then I noticed her phone when she picked it up to answer a call. It was a G1 phone; I thought this is a good situation to ask questions about the technology adoption behavior of hers. Monica said that she just got it recently and only because she lost her previous one. She said she had a Blackberry –curve with T-Mobile. She said that she uses her phone for voice, text, email, browsing the internet, music, video, and as an organizer. I would say she is a early adopter, because she uses almost all apps the phone offers. In addition, she had a Blackberry before she got the G1 phone, based on that I would say that she is an early adopter.