We are gearing up for our trip and my husband made a comment about the portion of time I’ll be driving on my own without him. He told my daughter that I needed to be less pleasant with people with the inference that by being pleasant and chatty opens me to a world of trouble.

The only time I can think of where I was chatting pleasantly to someone and it ended up causing a lot of problems was when I was 15. The guy I was talking to ended up stalking me for a time. But he never harmed me. I can’t count the number of people who I have had the pleasure of talking to and it has made me a richer person for it.

I can kind of see his point, but I don’t like to be paranoid. I think there is a difference between naively friendly and wisely friendly. I’m a naturally friendly person as people really interest me. I don’t know how to shut that off or, whether I should.

So, do you believe that friendly people open themselves up to abuse and harm?

Topics: travel, women, talking, danger, wisdom, friendliness, caustiousness