by Guest » Fri Dec 12, 2008 10:36 am
[quote1229095364=Finesse]Bull Run, Am I correct in assuming that by "would not force an interaction" that you feel conversing with people in a waiting room is just a no go in any form and that we should stick to just talking about our sickness to the nurses and staff?[/quote1229095364]
What I'm saying is that I wouldn't make it a point to talk to this girl at this moment in time. You're both sick and it seems highly inappropriate. The way I think about it is like this:
Very generally, there are two broad types of approaches:
1) A created approach. This is an approach that requires that you actively do something. I would say that an active approach actually requires you to physically move yourself into, or near, here personal space (note that space can be defined loosely, an email would be moving into her 'personal space' just as walking up to her would). In this case, you are FORCING an interaction. You are actively changing the world so as to ensure that you will at least talk to the girl.
2) An opportunistic approach. This approach is exactly what it sounds like, and is distinguished by the fact that you didn't actually do anything to create it. For example, the girl sits down one seat away. In this case, she has entered your personal space, of sorts. Since you are both in proximity to each other, you can use that proximity to opportunistically approach her. In this case, you lean over and sift through the mags on the coffee table in front of you two and say "they never have the mags I want...is Good Housekeeping so hard to subscribe to?"
In my opinion, the latter of the two approaches is ALWAYS socially acceptable. You are both in proximity and you have done nothing actively to open her, you just took advantage of the opportunity that the proximity has afforded you. Any normal, friendly person would do exactly the same thing. When you go out of your way to create proximity or enter someone's personal space or go on the 'offensive' then you start to bump up against social norms. In this case, I think the social norm is to keep to yourself. To not actively try to talk to people. Taking advantage of an opportunity is different though. I still think some people will be off put by it, but I don't think it's not totally socially unacceptable.