Half way through!!!!!
When I saw the title of today's act a sense of dread came over me. The dread wasn't because of what I had to do, it was because of the reaction I feared I'd get.
As a born and bred northerner I'm quite happy chatting to random people. Up north it's okay to chat to people at the bus stop, perfectly acceptable to engage the checkout lady in conversation and definitely 'sane' to be walking along the street with your head up smiling at passers by! So, you can probably understand the cultural shock I went into when I moved to London. In the last three years I have slowly but surely learned that it is absolutely not okay to even make eye contact with the person opposite you on the tube, let alone talk to them. Engaging the checkout lady will result in one or two word answers and if I walk along the street smiling at people they presume I'm more than likely on 'day release' from the local hospital!
Despite the fears of the reactions I'd get, I embraced my inner northerner and spent the day saying hello and making small talk with strangers, desperately hoping they were fellow northerners! And you know what....it wasn't that bad. One or two 'do I really have to say something to you' looks, but nothing to deter me from continuing to chat to randomers :)
