strangers etiquette

so ken's most recent blog over at texaken has inspired me to write about my office woes and my struggles with the corporate etiquette dilemmas that i now find myself faced with. most recently, today i'm coming back from lunch and get in the elevator with some guy. you know, generic, maybe 30 years-old, wearing a white shirt and khakis. never seen him before. he's says to me, 'just coming back from lunch?' 'yes,' i answer in a totally polite and not at all irritated manner. 'was it good?', he says. okay, now what in the hell am i supposed to say? there's really only one thing to say when you're dealing with a 30 second conversation with a stranger in an elevator. 'yes', i say with a smile. he then started in on the weather but, fortunately, the doors slid open and it was my floor.

now, i don't want to seem cruel or unfriendly. but i seriously want to know if i'm missing some sort of rule of society that says you're supposed to strike up stupid conversations with strangers. some people do it all the time i guess. but i never do. i mean, i'm nice and friendly with the security guy and the door man and the guy who comes to fix our copier. and of course i love the parking attendant guy. but i don't ever feel like the silence in an elevator needs to be filled by me. can't we just all ride up to our floors in peace?