PLATE VI   Inbound, two seats, one hello.

NOTE 05 · CHAPTER II

The conversation we almost didn’t have

HABITAT    Trains, cafés, waiting rooms

On Chicago trains and buses, commuters asked to talk with a stranger reported a more pleasant ride than commuters told to keep to themselves — even though a separate group of commuters predicted the opposite.17 People assumed the stranger wouldn’t want to talk. Mostly, the stranger did. A social animal can still misjudge its own herd.