Cut the undersea cables already
This seems less-and-less extreme, daily. Free yourselves from your leashes!
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Next time you're standing in line, strike up conversation (about anything) with your ugliest linemate (it doesn't even matter about what, just offline communication)...
Maybe ya'll both like ZFS or "heard about that PHP thing!?" (I used both conversation starters, today – it worked – I can be the ugliest, too).
If you prefer wordless silence, pulling out a phone (or book/magazine) works well when talkers "don't take the hint;" or face away (for particularly invasive conversation starters).
My hope is that small talk leads to shared connections, perhaps even (a brief intertwining of) humanity.
As with all things, the past few decades were slowly, while the past few years have went quick.
What do you like talking about? What brings you into the HN comments?