Everyone in a waiting room stares at a phone. Try being the one person who looks up and says hi.

Shared awkwardness keeps a room silent long after anybody actually wants it to be. Everyone is looking down partly because everyone else is, which means one person behaving differently changes the whole arrangement. Most people are relieved rather than annoyed to be spoken to. The risk is small and the odds are better than they feel.

Say something ordinary to one stranger this week, about the wait or the weather. Let it be brief and let it go nowhere. The point is discovering that it costs nothing.