Schneier makes an obvious and valuable point: when assessing risk there is a big difference between a stranger approaching you and you approaching the stranger. In the first case you don’t know their motivations, while in the second you do know your motivations and, chances are, the stranger will not be dangerous.
I was thinking about this over the weekend when I happened upon a child wandering in a large hotel complex in San Diego. The small girl had that all-too-recognizable look of increasing panic on her face — it was clear that she was lost. As I approached her to ask if I could help, I could not help thinking about what this would look like to her and to anybody else nearby.
As it turned out, she was waiting for someone and was not sure she had the right meeting place. Within a minute or two her face changed dramatically as she saw the person she was waiting for, and off she ran with obvious relief. I wonder what the conversation was like when she got in the car with her adult caregivers.
Schneier on Security: The Kindness of Strangers
When I was growing up, children were commonly taught: “don’t talk to strangers.” Strangers might be bad, we were told, so it’s prudent to steer clear of them.
And yet most people are honest, kind, and generous, especially when someone asks them for help. If a small child is in trouble, the smartest thing he can do is find a nice-looking stranger and talk to him.
