I'm not good with starting conversations, so this is a very, very awkward task for me to do. So as I walked into the UC, I glanced around for the friendliest face I could get a hold of. And maybe I cheated a bit, but I noticed that my friend's roommate was sitting alone having her dinner at a corner of the UC. I never really spoke to her before, but at least I had the confidence that she wouldn't give me the stalker look.
She had her hair tied up and was wearing her grey shirt and black pants. She didn't notice me until I came over and stared at her for 30 seconds. After the awkward silence, I started the conversation.
"Hi" I said.
"Hi" she replied, confused.
"So my professor gave me this task" I continued awkwardly, "that I have to pick someone I'm not familiar with and strike a conversation with."
"Okay" she replied.
"So..." I continued, "if you can be any animal, what would you be?" I asked.
She started thinking for awhile, chewing her Mongolian grill, then looked at me and said:
"Cat."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because it's cute." She replied, then looked down at her Mongolian grill and continued to eat.
"Oh okay" I said. "Thanks for your time" I smiled.
"Nope" she replied.
As I walked away, I had this extremely awkward feeling rising up my chest. God I suck at striking a conversation.
Nicely done Linh. Crisp, clean, and it made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteYou included details of the 'subject' and yourself, showing me not telling me.
God I suck at striking a conversation: it's a harder thing to do than it seems like it should be.
Even though this piece was short, I think it really added to the simplicity you were searching for. I like how you stated how awkward it was. You wanted to get in and out and that is exactly how I felt as a reader.
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