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Notes -
Might have been a better fit for the WW thread but here goes.
I am bamboozled by this interaction with a girl. Help me make sense of this.
Context:
My mom is a photographer so she photographs people sometimes. I drive her to places if I am free and got nothing better to do.
So she wanted to hang out with one of her friends and photograph her daughter a bit as well.
I am a 24 year old guy. The daughter was 21 years old.
The weird part:
She literally wouldn't talk at all. Or even make eye contact. Like I would ask her a random normie question, she would answer it and then go silent again, often texting on her phone.
No I wasn't being weird. Since I had to kill time, I just wanted to talk to her and pass time. No I wasn't bothering her, the photography was done quickly and both us were captive there with our moms.
No I am not especially retarded. I literally talked as "normally" as any normal person ever normaled. No my breath didn't stink. No I am not horrendously ugly; In a generous day, I might even argue that I am more attractive than her.
This is the first time I had any interaction like this where the other person just refuses to talk to this extent. Like I can understand not talking if you are trapped there with someone for 5-20 minutes. Not if you are trapped somewhere with someone for hours on end!!
I wasn't being pushy, just tried to make conversation every 15-20 minutes. Every single time if I didn't follow up with a question she would just stop replying.
Is it just genZ being genZ or is this just how some people are? Or my fault? Or no ones fault?
Would you have felt bamboozled if instead of a 21 year old girl, you were stuck with a 21 year old guy with whom you shared no discernable interest?
I don't think isolated interactions, barring ones that are extraordinary which I don't think this counts, are informative of what's going on with an entire generation or observation of how some people are. If you notice this same thing recurring, then it would be time for introspection and/or analysis of society.
And Occam's Razor would suggest it was very simple, that between talking to you and texting on your phone, she preferred the latter. I don't think that says much about other of you. Maybe odd of her if you're actually Harry Styles, but otherwise perfectly normal and unremarkable.
Lastly, I'd note that she probably wouldn't think it's very high status of you to be your mother's chauffeur. I think it's great that you're willing to help her, but she could very reasonably conclude that if your life is awesome, you'd be busy with your own priorities. And even if you were doing a favor for your mom by driving her, you might be busy with your own life working/socializing remotely via your phone, instead of "Since I had to kill time, I just wanted to talk to her and pass time."
Since plenty of people find themselves in this situation with even their own friends who are choosing to hang out with them, I'd go with this. No big explanation necessary.
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