Just had beers with my wife and a complete stranger. She was nice, but I was not in an n overly talkative mood.

Just asked her about herself regularly, and happily listened to her talk about herself.

Turns out she's quite interesting. We both agreed we'd like to meet her for beers again.

But. Where you from? How'd you end up living here? Family nearby? Miss them? See them often? Your dad does WHAT for a living? We had a similar pet, does yours do X? Think you'll stay here, or considering another area to live? So you're not getting on well with your sister? I can understand that, what else have you tried?

Etc etc etc. All about them, but can be genuinely interesting.

"What is rimming?"

What do you think is the purpose of life?

I like to think it's "how are you doing today" because when someone asks me that it shows they're there for me.

"If you could have one supper power what would it be?"

So what do you like to do for fun? Or, What are some of your hobbies?

I find these much better than "so what do you do for work?", which is what I'm asked constantly. "Yes, person who I don't know, let me discuss work during my free time with you."