Coffee Makes People Friendly

Monty went for coffee and met a guy for the first time that's he's apparently known for twenty years.

"Hey man, how's it going?"

Monty blinked. "Fine, thanks."

"We're about to get out of debt!"

Personal details from a stranger... nice. Monty stuttered a bit in reply. "... uh ... great? ..."

"We've almost paid off our car, and my wife's rash is just about cleared up."

Monty choked back his gag reflex. "... That's ... *cough* ... that's really great."

The stranger just kept chattering at Monty as if they'd known each other forever. Monty has never met this guy before.

"Things are really looking up for us!", the stranger said as he wandered off.

"Great," said Monty. "I'm rootin' for ya."

Later, he shared the story with us. "You should have struck out randomly," I suggested. "Pick a name and go for it. 'So, how's Brenda?' That sort of thing."

Monty wasn't so sure. "If he knows a 'Brenda', there's a good chance the conversation would end with a hug. I don't want that."

Who doesn't want a hug?