Just use your clippers on the lowest guard.

Exactly! Forced events put everyone in "performance mode" where you're both trying to sell yourselves. It's weirdly competitive even when you're meant to connect. But helping someone with their groceries or chatting in a line, that's just being a decent person in a shared moment. That realness lets guardrails drop way faster than any "so what do you do" icebreaker. It feels like making a friend, not a contact, which ironically leads to better work down the line.