making eye contact with a stranger on the street as you walk past but not saying anything to them - C or D

you loathe yourself after staring at strangers?

This guy always brings the lulz.

the loathing was just a general thing.

http://kristerhultberg.blogg.se/images/kierkegaard_1168712173.jpg

isn't this kind of...normal? i mean you don't try to meet everyone's eyes, but it's also weird to avoid eye contact at all costs. it happens. you move on.

Being a knight of infinite resignation, C or D?

http://www.anl.gov/ARTS/lloyd.gif

no matter what you do you lose.
look down you are a guilty person filled with regret.
look up you are cocky, arrogant, and snooty.
look straight ahead and not acknowledge the person in front of you - they know your thinking about them.
look them in the eye - you're creepy?

i am thrilled when old white women give me a wide berth on the street, and will do what is necessary to assure this happens, including (but not limited to) staring them down, glowering at their purses, feinting a lunge.

perhaps they think you are in search of a manbag.

i have one :(

on the plus side, at least they are happy to make eye contact.

They're a complete stranger, unless you are very very hot to them, they'll have forgotten you within five minutes. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

making eye contact with a stranger on the street as you walk past but not saying anything to them AKA the new york city national pastime = stone cold classic

i remember the girl i locked eyes with today. occasionally i remember others from months past.

i've perfected the art of the polite nod.

I don't even really think about this much. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. It's not like they blew a kiss at you or something, lol.

some ppl just like to daydream (a bit too much)

no choice really

Nodding hello to someone you think you vaguely know then realising they just look similar - c/d?

Nodding hello to someone you vaguely know but they don't recognise you - c/d?

Nodding hello to someone you think you vaguely know then realising they just look similar, however in the meantime they've nodded hello back for probably the same reason - c/d?

Different answers in big cities, small cities, towns or hamlets.

hamlets was a shy motherfucker, he prolly kept his ipod @ red house painters & looked at his shoes

Nodding hello to someone you want to fuck - C or D

Cpn Lorax I think you are overthinking this! You should srsly read How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnagie (or maybe it is Carnegie). I used to have a lot of the same social anxieties/fears/weirfnesses you describe you have (on various threads), and my dad made me read it. I was way skeptical and kind of insulted (wz a teenager, so I'd react that way to any suggestion I needed to improve myself in some way). But it has really good advice! Like WAY good. It seems kind of stupidly obvious but it is also true.

Figuring out how to make eye contact, how to make chit-chat, how to listen to people and be interesting/interested just take PRACTICE. lots and lots of it, but it grows and builds the more you practice! Just say, "Fuck it, nothing I do is making me feel good so the worst that can happen if I practice at this is I'll feel the way I do now." Seriously, give it a try! You'll be glad you did.

In high school I was SO terrified of making eye contact I deliberately unfocused my eyes at all times. (This has to do with a time at age five when I made eye contact with a gorilla at the San Diego zoo and burst into tears of pure terror.)

look straight ahead and not acknowledge the person in front of you - they know your thinking about them.

Please believe me when I say 0.000001% of the population, maximum, has this thought about you! People are generally self-absorbed in some form or another and are not checking every passerby for reactions! (Exceptions: little kids in front yards doing tricks or trying to look cool to see if people in cars will look at them, and this is just a pry for fun attention.)

"We would worry a lot less about what people thought of us if we realized how seldom they do." Or something like that.

^^^ this

Please believe me when I say 0.000001% of the population, maximum, has this thought about you!

how many big walking cities have you been to?

0.000001% of them.