When was the last time you talked to a stranger and weren't providing directions, money or thoughts on his or her driving? In a city full of transplants, outside of the instant camaraderie that sprouts in bars around 1am, the opportunities for spontaneous human interaction can feel slim. Ankit Shah is trying to change that with a community organization project called Tea With Strangers.
It's essentially the embodiment of the phrase "a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet." The project, which Shah started on his college campus in 2013, is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. All you have to do is sign up for a tea time and then spend two hours chatting with five strangers about anything and everything that pops up. There’s no goal other than getting to connect with a group of people you wouldn’t have met otherwise and having a conversation that digs below surface-level small talk. Since the focus is just on being present in the conversation, there are no strings attached and no pressure to be friends afterward. There's also the added benefit of self-selection; anyone who signs up for this is probably going to have a similar sense of risk and adventure (and will probably be pretty awesome). Maybe you’ll spend the entire time talking about your favorite books, or the intricacies of the universe or what is said when someone cuts you off on the 405.
Tea With Strangers is free and open to all ages, and tea times happen in various locations in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and other major cities. Click here to sign up.