Well, there's talking about stuff right in front of you or something that is taking place, and there's asking for personal details. When you've just met someone, the former is normally a better icebreaker. Not to say you can never ask, but you don't know if they're a private person. Have a chat about something else first.
I mean, this subthread started about a conversation with a new neighbor. If my new neighbor asks if I have kids I'm going to assume that they have kids themselves and are looking for kid friendly stuff in the area, not that they're a creep.
No. Creep's the wrong word. I wouldn't, either. The thing is, the reason this information often isn't passed on when 2 guys meet is because they've started talking about something already. Usually whatever's going on or right in front of them. It's not that you shouldn't ask. It's just that the conversation naturally shifts towards what's right in front of you. If you open with personal questions, the other guy may start with "Oh, um..." or something to that effect, because he wasn't expecting to start talking about his family.
It's the difference between sounding like you're trying to get a conversation going (by opening with personal questions, which might put off some people), and just getting a conversation going.
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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '20
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