I was walking through Westlake this evening, a place where you will no doubt come across people giving opinions and people asking for opinions. On this particular occasion, someone wanted my opinion, stepped forward with his clipboard and with the other extended his hand out in greeting. My initial response was a combination of “I’m not touching a stranger”, “I’ve got places to be”, and “Sorry, dude. I know you’re just doing your thing.”

On the one hand, should we be allowing ourselves to interact with any stranger who vies for our attention? On the other hand, shouldn’t we be able to show kindness to our fellow humans? One could certainly get into trouble taking that hand from some of the people wandering through Westlake. However, how many good experiences are we missing out on by avoiding those few bad ones?