Quote Originally Posted by Mr. MacDougall View Post
................................I simply wasn't raised to consider strangers dangerous. Everyone's just a friend I haven't met yet.
Oh, nor was I. The possibility of strangers being dangerous is a comparatively modern conception. I'd say that here it is more a matter of politeness that you do not directly engage strangers on the street in conversation. It being different, of course, if the stranger is a travelling companion whom you might be sitting next to for several hours!