What's your favorite way to meet people?

how profound…I fully agree with you!! I just have to work on opening up and letting the fear dissipate…feel free to be

this is exactly how we were in new york city!  it was so much fun.  people kept asking us where we were from because we laughed and joked and played and shared with total strangers.  in a rain storm we took shelter under an overhang from a building in a square where a few others had taken shelter as well.  my friend wanted to get a snack to sustain her for our long walk.  she was looking in my backpack where I had stashed a chocolate bar while I still wore the pack and held an umbrella.  she kept saying, it's not in here and i keep saying, yes it is and we were laughing and exhillerated by the rain and finally a man nearby said, “just take off the pack and find it yourself already!”  and just as I was about to do so my friend said, “here it is” and I said, “I told you it was in there” and the man said “I deserve that chocolate for having to listen to all that” and I said, “here have some.  one of my favorite things to do is share fabulous chocolate”  and we laughed and shared and then he accused me of not being from the united states even, let alone new york city.  and i insisted that I was too from the united states, from colorado.  he was astonished.  couldn't believe I was just sharing with a stranger.  we were ready to continue our walk soon in the downpour and i didn't want to put the rest of the chocolate back in the pack.  I offered it to him.  but my friend said she wanted some more too.  then a girl covered in rags sitting in a pile of bags, almost hidden, said, “hey colorado, can I have some of that chocolate?”  so we all gave her the rest of it and we went on our merry way.  my teenage son, was observing all of this exchange from under his own umbrella a little way apart.  he who is usually mortified by his mother's embarrassing behavior.  but a little while later, he handed his umbrella to a well to do man who was stranded under an awning saying “here have an umbrella, you look like you could use one” and my son then joined me under my umbrella.  half a block later the man passed us, walking fast and talking on his cell phone.  he was saying, “some guy just handed me an umbrellla, so I'm on my way home” in an astonished voice.  my son rediscovered a power inside of himself that day that has nothing to do with power over another.  it glowed in him for a time.  and shows through his tough teenage facade now and again and makes me smile. 

Joy and Laughter - what a great way to meet people!  That was what caught my eye in your post … and that I disagree about NYC people being rude and mean (you didn't say they were – just that they tend to be labeled that way, which I agree with) – I have actually found them to be some of the most helpful and caring if us “outsiders” just understand that they are different and used to being on the go and not getting in each others' faces and always in a hurry. So I'm sure your humor and joy are welcome there – and, I would hope, anywhere. If we don't react with predetermined labels, we may just find that there's a whole world of friendly helpful people *Grin!  Keep spreading your unexpected antics and watch the smiles.