Some public settings make stranger-initiated encounters chronically inappropriate

Evidence

Calculations of appropriateness, like those of desirability and legitimacy, also involve consideration of the character of the particular public space itself. Encounters between males or between males and females, for example, may be more “appropriate” in some settings than in others. In his study of a millenarian cult, John Lofland found that the male members of the sect who attempted to initiate contact with persons in libraries and museums (as a first step in proselytizing for converts) met with very little success: In the winter of 1962-3, Elmer and Alfred attempted access in libraries and museums. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1011