Often I see things in public that I am curious about, but I don’t want to intrude on other people’s lives or make them feel like I am using them. I once was taking public transportation and saw a woman using a Sprint USB stick to get wireless access on her MacBook Pro. I had never seen anyone use one of these so I was curious and decided to ask her.

“Excuse me, I saw you using a Sprint USB stick a few minutes ago and I’m a Mac technician and I was curious what your experience was with that.” I explained.

“It works pretty well, just not tonight. It was my sign that I should finish with working and just play games” she replied.

Introduced my name and asked her a few other questions and thanked her for her time. Most people who I have approached for information seem glad to share it if you ask them in the right way. Here is how I decide how to ask someone in public to share information.

1. I look to see if they are busy. If they don’t look busy then they will be much more likely to consent.
2. I look to see if they have a companion. I don’t want to be rude to their companion so if they have one, then generally I don’t ask.
3. I look to see if they seem friendly. If they are in a good mood I will ask, but if they are in any hint of a stressful mood I won’t.

That is pretty much it. Sometimes I have found that by giving people an easy out, that also improves the responsiveness to a question. For example, a long time ago, I was buying something in a store and the cashier was a beautiful mix of nationalities that I could not recognize. I said something like:

“I understand if you don’t want to answer this question but I am curious – What is your ethnic heritage?” I asked.

She responded eagerly and proudly that she was a mix of Irish and Indian I think. It was an amazing combination that I never would have guessed. The point here is that, if you are respectful and approach in a light-hearted way, people will usually share information with you.