Allow Myself to Introduce My...Self
My name is Richie Cunningham and this is my lovely wife Oprah. These words which everybody knows were made famous since this is how the bible starts. None of this, "On the first day there was a dog looking for a tree to pee on" stuff. Indeed, Austin Powers was merely aping (apeing?) the opening stanza of the Holy Bible. Belt.
Do you ever reach the point in your general conversational life where you make the realization that people only want to talk about themselves? I've found this to be the case at work. People say, "So how was your weekend?" then allow you 2-3 words before they overlay your story with theirs. I've stopped talking about anything remotely personal with all but a select few people. It's not worth it. Maybe this is a side effect from working in New York. I like the fact that the work I do is much more Critical Path. But people sure are less friendly there.
But then, it goes beyond work. Almost everyone you meet in life is like this. It seems that as people get older they're like tractor pull contestants, where the emotional baggage weight slides forward and gets increasingly heavy until most people walk around with a boulder of consternation on their minds.
All of this floods out when you show an ounce of interest. Not that I have a problem with exchanges of personal views, mind you. But have a clue and try a little give-and-take when you converse with someone. Saying, "So what's going on with you?" and then diving head first into your recent shoe buying disaster isn't winning you any Cool Points. I'm counting, believe me.
Oh, but here I am going on about myself - where are my manners. So, what's going on with you.
...waits patiently for 5 seconds...
Anyway, let me tell you about these ripoff Ecco shoes I got a few weeks ago...
Do you ever reach the point in your general conversational life where you make the realization that people only want to talk about themselves? I've found this to be the case at work. People say, "So how was your weekend?" then allow you 2-3 words before they overlay your story with theirs. I've stopped talking about anything remotely personal with all but a select few people. It's not worth it. Maybe this is a side effect from working in New York. I like the fact that the work I do is much more Critical Path. But people sure are less friendly there.
But then, it goes beyond work. Almost everyone you meet in life is like this. It seems that as people get older they're like tractor pull contestants, where the emotional baggage weight slides forward and gets increasingly heavy until most people walk around with a boulder of consternation on their minds.
All of this floods out when you show an ounce of interest. Not that I have a problem with exchanges of personal views, mind you. But have a clue and try a little give-and-take when you converse with someone. Saying, "So what's going on with you?" and then diving head first into your recent shoe buying disaster isn't winning you any Cool Points. I'm counting, believe me.
Oh, but here I am going on about myself - where are my manners. So, what's going on with you.
...waits patiently for 5 seconds...
Anyway, let me tell you about these ripoff Ecco shoes I got a few weeks ago...
