I'm good at talking with strangers. As a journalist, I have to be. I hadn't realized I posessed this trait until this quarter.

I was down at The Temple Bar, a wine and cheese type of place, with a group from my planning studio class; we were meeting one of our clients there to talk about a project on his property. As we were waiting, a group member said "I wonder if that's him up at the bar?" She asked it, she did not state it. If she had stated it, she would have done someting about it. But by asking, she implied that she wanted someone else to go check.

I'm not one to be easily embarassed and I know how to initiate a conversation with someone I don't know and I can't stand inaction within a group of perfectly capable people... so I went up to check if this was our guy. It wasn't. But I met a nice guy who knew the dude I was looking for and, for you journalists out there, I met a potential source.

That's my story.

Ike -- who recommends talking with strangers, just not the creepy ones