Quirky Intros and Complete Strangers

First of all, let me point out that I'm used to having random conversation with complete strangers. It's a form of networking that I might even find enjoyable from time to time. When I was in uni in Italy, I used to take the train every week. And God knows what chance encounters you can experience on a train. I promised to myself I'll write a book about it. So, I'm not rookie here. However, some people's intros still take me aback.

The first week I moved to London, I was happily surprised by a transvestite who stopped in the middle of the street, ended her phone call and postponed another one, just to tell me: "Oh my goodness! You hair is fabulous!" Which wasn't even true in my opinion. She complimented me and bet that I'd rather have straight hair, instead of curly. Nope, I said. She then started to blurt out a number of solutions to deal with the dampness of London's weather - not a good thing for my already frizzy hair.

That was a quite funny, but flattering way of starting a (2-minute long) conversation. Other times, intros are clumsy and lame. Such as that of a worker yesterday that drove by me while I was walking to uni. I heard the car stopping and thought to myself: "Oh, Jeez... what does he want? I don't know my way around here," expecting him to ask me for directions. But he said: "If you smile then the sun will come out." So, I moved aside my umbrella, smiled at the sky and obviously nothing happened. Same old rainy grey weather. Flattered by the compliment, though annoyed by its cheesiness, I said: "It doesn't work," and moved on.

The worst ones, however, are those creepy people that just stare at you and then grin and then mutter something that you don't understand, and when you pass by them, ignoring them hopelessly, they shamelessly turn their head 180 degrees like an owl, risking to break their neck.
I went to a stand-up comedy recently. I've been told that the opening line is the most important one. So, please, people out there willing to chat with the person next to you or walking by: especially if the person is me, make it a good one.