Dear LPG,

We have spent so long not seeing who we are really socialising with since we were first introduced to the word Coronavirus, that I suspect that we might be getting withdrawal symptoms when it comes to initiating a first introduction.  The friends and acquaintances that have kept in touch with us on the phone have most probably become much closer.  In my experience many of the people that I vaguely knew because we said a passing hello when we used to go to the same day centre or dining club on the same day each week are now so much more than that to us.

Time on the phone, or video calling, will have started off with the usual superficial talk about the weather and how long we were going to be stuck in our houses, but that was never going to keep us interested enough to keep talking and the repeated calls, lack of time limits and need to be in contact with someone, often anyone, has given us the opportunity to learn so much more about our new friend’s hopes, fears, loves and hates while we have let down some of our barriers and shared more than we would normally. 

I bet that each of us who have made use of our telephones and followed the advice we were all given about the most important things we need to do to leave the pandemic experience with our sanity intact, now rely on the fact that they have time to talk.   I know that many of my new phone-a-friends have left my acquaintance group and become real friends as they have shared their ongoing worries and struggles.  As they and their families continue to navigate their way through the loneliness of lockdown our conversations have stopped being light-hearted ways to pass the time and become somewhat more depressing.  

The thing that really worries me is what happens when we are all inoculated and allowed to leave our houses again.   So many of us older people have lost friends and will need to make new ones in a world where lack of practice for so long might make saying hello to a stranger for the first time a really challenging prospect. 

 I asked Google to find a few pointers and questions that might prepare us for our inevitable future face to face encounters, and although much of what I have found will be completely irrelevant (because so much of what is there is designed to engage the young), there may be the odd bit of information or the odd appropriate initial question that might help to get those future face to face conversations going…

GW, Crofton Park.

GW shares a few tips on initiating a conversation when there…

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And finds a few ice-breaking questions that might come in handy…

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