There are many ways to widen your circle of friends, add to your contact list, en8large your social circle, increase the number of likes on your Facebook account, and even get elected with an overwhelming majority.
Let me count some of the ways. You can become an active member of your local church, join a pickleball group, volunteer at a soup kitchen, spend time sipping coffee at a local Tim’s, play euchre or bingo at the community hall, sing in the Seaway Choir, get fit by joining a Yoga group, or become a hooker at Upper Canada Village. (‘Hooker’ is what we used to call the ladies who knitted, sewed and weaved at the village’s craft house.)
One of the most effective ways of having long-lost relatives and friends suck up to you is to win a lottery or inherit a fortune from your late aunt’s great uncle who died intestate in Moldovia, and you were his last known relative.
I moved from Williamstown to Ingleside about a dozen years ago. At that time, I knew only one local resident. I soon discovered that Ingleside seems to have a local bylaw that goes something like this. “No person shall walk the streets of Ingleside without being accompanied by a dog.” Amazing, but obviously true.
In Ingleside I’ve discovered that I can approach complete strangers and greet them with something like, “Hi! How are you today?” To my delight I invariably get a positive response. I’ve reached first base on my first hit.
I then add a compliment: “Nice coat you have.” Then I extend my hand in friendship, confident in asking “And where do you live?”
That’s when somebody interjects themself into the beginning of our evolving intimate relationship by saying something like, “Her name is Bailey. I groom her every day. We live at 29 Chestnut Crescent.” People can be so intrusive!
“I was talking to the dog, not you.”
It’s through encounters like that I’ve met wonderful locals such as Bella, Boomer, Buddy, Finnigan, Happy, Hennessy, Muriel, Nelly, Roxy, Rusty, Spook and Wimpy.
Don’t be shy, give it a try.
To follow up, you could follow Theodore Roosevelt’s 1900 policy, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” However, if it’s a very small dog, a big twig would be more appropriate.
It’s said, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” I would say that the way to a dog’s heart follows the same route, so keep some little treats in your pocket if you want to make friends on your street.
Get out there. Meet dogs, meet people.
