ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I examine in more detail the question of how the context in which the data for my own interviews was constructed, by focusing on one particular part of the interviews-the openings. Of course, social interaction has to begin somehow. Many social encounters have recognizable openings-conventional greetings, associated body language, and so on, but these rarely predict the exact sequencing and unfolding of subsequent interaction. And, in most situations, finding a way in, a part to play, and so forth is a function of the way participants interpret and develop context, no matter how apparently predetermined a social encounter is.
