Trial and error

The journalist's method
Of trial and error 
Goes thus

You work for hours
On a person
Trying  to get them to open up
And getting zilch results

And suddenly on the second meeting
You strike a goldmine
And ask one question 
That opens their floodgates

And you worship the question 
Like the key to a buried treasure 
And jump it on the next  person you meet
Right after the introduction 
Only to have them  clam up
Or look at you askance
Or go the whole hog and start yelling
At you for probing too deep

You think you were too abrupt
And the key is to do the whole drill
All over again
But after  three meetigs with the next person
You realize your  treasured  key
Means nothing to them

Because every person has their own key
And there is no recourse  to trial and error  anew every time