Face-to-Face Interaction

Aw come on im on the edge of my seat, you gotta tell us what you said to the cashier O_O >>

For me its heavily dependant on the person. First of all something you have to know is I have more than 1 personality. There's internet shiro who is excessive and stylish and exaggerated and flamboyant and a bit cryptic sometimes but pretty much an open book aside from that. Then there's in person shiro who is heavily repressed and mysterious and rarely ever more than hints of any of that except with close friends. Internet shiro is what I consider as my 'true' personality and the more comfortable I get around someone the more of that they'll see.

 

Stutter, mumble, have to repeat what I said.

The usual

 

For business type interactions like cashiers, shop keepers and like I always salute them with "Good ...." depending on the time of the day. I will try to keep my business short so I don't steal from their time. Try to put in a joke or two if I have to wait... like fast food restaurant or such. Dealing with people all day is tedious task so if I can get a relaxed smile or two from them that makes me happy.

With other people I am complete A-HOLE... yeah with capitals. I talk with people easily, joke and make them feel like we are friends since eternity... then after that if I don't have to talk with them I avoid them... not even a hello or something. This is part of my "not force yourself on others" twisted line of thinking. I think as I live mostly in my own world of thoughts I think it is like that for everyone else as well. So I don't want to disturb them.

 

Well typically if I see a person approaching my general location I attempt to look like I'm busy doing something (yes, this repeated drawer opening in closing is very important). Hopefully the person will think I am busy or that I'm weird and leave me be.
However if a conversation is unavoidable it goes like this:
Person: "Hey, how are you?"
My brain: "Is that person talking to me? Uh oh, do they look angry? What did they ask again? Oh. My. Goodness. How long has it been now since they asked? Say something already! Anything, for the love of all that is sacred in this world-"
Me: "Uh....hi."

 

I think I do really well with face-to-face interactions. I've noticed that I talk to cashiers and waiters and whatnot a lot more than my friends do. I just like to talk, I don't know haha. I usually hold a short conversation with the guys at my local convenience store. They started remembering who I was after I came in and bought four cases of shitty ass Busch beer haha (don't ask lol).

I do make jokes. I make jokes like I've known them for years. I'm a huuuge joker. Jokes are my way of breaking tension of any kind.

I would rather order my pizza in person than over the phone. I get SO nervous on the phone. I typically don't have the patience to drive to the pizza place to order, so I do it online lol.

 

I'm socially awkward, so my face to face interactions are basically nonexistent. I just try to avoid them :S

 

I have to do face-to-face interactions for my job; I'm basically a cashier now. I used to be pretty nervous and shy with face-to-face interactions, but I've gotten much better. I'm friendly, but I don't expect other people to be as friendly as me. I know some people who are super friendly and then when the other person doesn't react that way, they're offended and pissed off. That's not me. I will start-off friendly but I will only engage the other person if they want to engage. Otherwise, I will leave them alone for the most part.

 

i'm a server at an extremely busy restaurant so i deal with face to face interactions probably more than anyone else on here. that's just my job, let alone the multiple other encounters i have on a daily basis.

i've met some badass people and i've met some fucking assholes. i think due to the fact that all i do is talk to people all day at work, i can come off as rude outside of work... can you blame me? i get tired of having conversations.

 

Awkwardly stare at them in hopes that they do the same.

 

I usually like to make a few jokes about whatever it is I'm talking to them about. I think it helps to create a nice laid-back ambience instead of a stressed out serious one like some people try to throw upon me when they speak to me.

 

I have no problem with social interactions, the only time I get uncomfortable is when the other person is giving me a lot of eye contact. I don't know why, but it makes me nervous unless it's a good friend or someone I'm with then it's completely fine. I'll talk to anyone, people on the bus, people at restaurants, bars. I like having little chats with random people and I usually will make a joke or two during the conversation.

 

My interactions are completely different with every person...depends on the person, and depends on my mood. I don't consider myself as having a way of "handling" them. Sometimes I joke, sometimes I ask a question, sometimes I'm completely down-to-business, sometimes I suffer awkward silence, sometimes I enjoy inflicting awkward silence...and many other variations.

 

I try to look at them but sometimes can't. I don't handle it very well. I'm socially anxious and awkward.

 

The examples described make up most of my routine social interaction experiences, in which I aim for amiable politeness with some humour thrown in. Mention something recent the person will be aware of, usually the weather or a national event. Maybe pay them a compliment if they are for example wearing a nice piece of jewelry or make-up etc, to put them in a good mood. I always say 'hope you have a good afternoon/evening when you get off work' or something along those lines.

In other cases it varies depending on the person I'm talking to. If I don't know them I need to read them first before I decide how to be with them, so I'm initially stand-offish and quiet unless their mood is obvious from the outset.

With friends I'm more relaxed but still mindful to give them enough oppourtunity to talk so that I can listen as well as speak. I don't get to see friends face to face that often though.

I can't really cope with face-to-face interaction for very long, it takes effort and gets exhausting after a while and frankly 95% of the time it's horribly boring. The exception is when I really like someone in which case I can spend ages in their company, however this is rare, picky and hard to impress as I am!

One thing that gets on my nerves is how some people think lack of eye contact is somehow rude, or an indication of deceitfulness. I try my best to maintain some degree of fleeting eye contact but it is physically difficult. This used to be because I found the act itself downright offensive, as I got older I became more practiced but that doesn't change the fact I still have difficulty with visual focusing and tracking. For me trying to hold someone's eyes for longer than a couple of seconds is like asking someone to keep their gaze fixed on a single window of a high-speed moving train.

 

Usually I let the other person do most of the talking.

 

I'm still a pretty quiet and shy guy until you really get to know me, but I've become so much better about this over the past few years.

I remember when I started my job I dreaded every meeting (especially with clients), hated using the phone, etc. Now it's all pretty much routine and doesn't stress me out at all. It helps that a few of the clients I've worked with the most have randomly sent incredibly kind notes about me to my bosses -- they got some freebies out of me for that.

 

It depends how aware of it I am. Yes, sometimes I just do it without thinking about it and it's alright, but I'm prone to over think these things, and that means I generally make it short and forward.