Can I get back?

I was talking with my kids yesterday, telling them that a joke is the best way to break down all walls with stranger.
And then remembered when I was using that tool with any new customer.

When you meet someone for the first time, a thing that I need to deal with all time in my office in Baghdad (File1 2000 - 2005). there will be walls, series walls preventing the new customer from tell you or act as normal as usually do with non-new face.
In another word, any new face you see in the street for example, there will be some walls that will prevent him/her from starting a conversation (may be after all I am the only one that feel like this).
Anyways, so a joke, any joke, stupid or old, will break all these walls.
That was I used to use when I was in Baghdad.

Now, here, I am facing that issue again, but it looks like it is harder for me to do the joke thing.

So talking with my kids, that brought that back again to the top of my list of things to start explore and try to do here, and study the affect.