HI! challenge, day 01

FYI: Ariel challenged me to say hi and attempt conversation with one stranger a day in SL for 30 days and blog about it. Today is day 01. This fyi will appear at the top of each post.

For the first day of the challenge, I thought I would try accosting one of the many hunters who visit our sim. There are two mainstores on the Home Sim that participate in a lot of hunts, FireGOOD!!! and Sweet Antidote. I decided to position myself in a clump of poppies between the sim landing point and the two stores - I triangulated! Then I lay in wait, like a groundsquirrel waiting in her hole for an acorn to fall from a tree!

I think I triangulated awsumly! I waited and waited ... but nobody came.Which was weird, because we've had a steady stream of hunters over the last few days. Did the hunts all end!? What gives? Bah. Clearly, I was going to have to work harder to find a stranger to talk to.

While I was deciding what to do next ... someone tp'd in! 26m away! He landed at Ariel's shop, I rushed over ...

[12:38 PM]  Owly Indigo: hello sylver ;-)
[12:40 PM]  Owly Indigo Hoots!

I said hi, I hooted ... and got nothing in return. I wasn't quite prepared to IM, I wanted to see how saying hello in local would work first. Suddenly, he walked into the main part of the store. Sooo ... I am not a FireGOOD!!! CSR ... officially. Nonetheless ...

[12:42 PM]  Owly Indigo: sylver, please let me know if I can help you with anything ;-)
[12:43 PM]  sylver Shelman smiles "Thank you"

YAY! Response! And a polite one! I sat on the railing, not quite willing to push it. I mean ... he was clearly here with a purpose, and that was to find a hunt object, not to talk with the crazy eager bird lady on a mission to talk to a stranger. So I had a look through his profile while he had a look through the shop. And look what I found there ...

i talk to everybody almost i enjoy conversations and thought provocation. It is a really pleasure to sit and converse with others and enjoy a laugh. i joke and try to make people smile

Well, he did talk to me, briefly. And at 12:52 PM he disappeared, apparently having found the hunt gift.

I wonder, if I weren't feeling so shy and sensitive to the fact that he was on a hunt, what more might I have said to him? Would we have found common ground? He smiled at me ... could he have made me smile too, as his profile suggests?

Here's what I learned: people who are doing a hunt might not be interested in conversing, and they might not want to talk with unofficial CSRs. Also, politeness is very important - I was so happy he smiled and said "thanks" instead of ignoring me.