Everyone is friendly, but go first

Today I watched a really interesting short reel on Instagram. In essence, it was explaining that everyone is friendly, but you should always make the first move when instigating conversation. This almost always avoids the awkward first interactions between people in any social scenario.

I recently started training with a new sports team, and the first week I arrived at the training ground, it was evident the vast majority of people knew each other. And if they didn’t know anyone, they were confident enough to start chatting with those around them before the session got started. It was so long since I had been in a situation where I knew absolutely nobody, and I kind of shut off from the world around me. I barely spoke to anyone before the session started, and I can’t imagine I looked very approachable. I was nervous and new, but so were many other people. The only difference, on reflection, is that the others all went first in creating that small talk with the other people around them.

Everyone is friendly, but everyone is scared of going first.