Stranger danger

Today, I was sitting at the bus stop when two girls came up to me with some flyers. Usually I try to avoid people with flyers. For one, flyers are very harmful to the environment; think of how many trees are killed a year! And they are extremely annoying. I knew that I was going to have to take this flyer, though. I had broken my own cardinal rules of flyer dodging: never stand some place where you can be easily cornered, and never sit down. I had done both today, and was an easy target. I listened to their little speech, and wondered why they just couldn't hand me the flyer and leave me alone. As they finally walked away, I began to wonder: what happened to society that has made us so distrustful and closed off to strangers?
It amazes me how often people go out of their way to avoid each other. At one point, all friends were once strangers. When did it become socially acceptable to avoid the gazes of fellow human beings and pass-by with out at least a nod or a smile? Many historians argue that the growth of exclusivity among people to just be amiable to friends and family came in the 1950s. In the book Homeward Bound, Elaine Tyler May says the dying of the traditional American town came with the rise of the suburbs and the onslaught of the Cold War. The policy of "containment" was permeating not only American foreign relations, but also American familial and communal relations. Families were "contained" to themselves. Many also argue the large-spread rise of crime led many people to distrust each other. You never know who may be a serial killer. Ask Ted Bundy's friends.
Yet, people are not completely withdrawn from one another. On the Internet, millions of people interact with one another, strangers and friends alike. People find no qualms I'm-ing a person who lives thousands of miles away, but are uncomfortable when the person standing next to them in line strikes up a conversation. Meeting people takes courage, and may be its just me, but the human race seems to be lacking in bravery.