This week, Good Earth coffee shops across Canada, including Vancouver Island, will participate in Talk to a Stranger Week 鈥� a campaign created by Toronto-based non-profit GenWell to promote the benefits of small talk.
鈥淥ur mission is to make the world a happier and healthier place by educating, empowering and catalyzing Canadians around the importance of face-to-face social connection,鈥� said the organization鈥檚 founder and CEO Pete Bombaci. 鈥淭he why behind it was really a recognition of the research that had clearly shown us for the last 30 years that we were increasingly disconnected as a society.鈥�
According to a survey GenWell conducted in 2021, people who speak to strangers once per week are up to three times happier than those who don鈥檛. However, just 20 per cent of Canadians speak to strangers everyday, and only 28 per cent believe that chatting to strangers can make them happier 鈥� a perception Bombaci wants to change.
鈥淩esearch shows that building healthy connection habits is the single greatest contributor to happiness,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t reduces anxiety and depression and increases empathy, compassion, resilience.鈥�
Small talk can help combat loneliness, too.
"52 per cent of Canadians feel lonely on a weekly basis," said Bombaci. "Every opportunity we have to pass by somebody and smile or nod or engage in some small way can make a big difference."
According to the CEO, fostering in-person connections has become increasingly important since COVID.
"The downside of COVID is that it ripped us apart from our friends and family for two years, and the upside is that it awoke us to just how much we need each other,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n that is an opportunity to help educate, empower and catalyze human connection for every Canadian because I think that will make us all better off.鈥�
There are three Good Earth shops in Victoria 鈥� one in the Bay Centre, another in Capital Park and a final location tucked in Royal Jubilee Hospital 鈥� and a fourth on Oak Bay Avenue. Each of these shops will encourage patrons to talk with other coffee drinkers until Nov. 24. To do so, baristas will also offer customers buttons that, when worn, signal to others an openness to chat. Conservation cards on tables will also help spark conversation.
Bombaci acknowledges that approaching strangers can be difficult for some, for which preparation is the solution.
鈥淚t's just prepping yourself to know what your opening line is,鈥� he said. 鈥淎re you going to talk about the weather? Are you going to talk about the traffic today? Are you going talk about last night's sporting event?鈥�
To help calm people's anxiety, the CEO added that 90 per cent of the time when strangers speak, both parties have a positive experience.
鈥淲hen we have healthy relationships in our lives, it helps us cope, it helps us find solutions and build resilience, and that's what leads to a happier and healthier and longer life,鈥� he said.
