xkcd- Small Talk? So true..

[ibneko]

http://xkcd.com/c222.html

Yeeeah, it happens, quite a bit. It used to happen more when I just got out of high school (where no one bothered with small talk - at least the people I stuck close to anyways? Or if they did, and I gave a honest and complete answer, it didn't feel awkward and they didn't look at me funny) and didn't fully grasp the concept that people ask "what's up/how've you been?", they don't actually want a paragraph of what's actually happening (which I find silly. Why waste breath on a question when you don't actually want an answer worthwhile listening to?).

Apparently a relatively usual answer is "Not much. You?" or "Pretty good. You?" or.. other stuff. And then they reply in the same fashion. At which point, it's usually (unfortunately) my turn to talk again, and, not being capable of pulling random (interesting) things out of my mind, the typical awkward silence ensues while someone tries to find something to say.

Just what do people usually say after the "I'm pretending to be concerned about you, but I don't care about your answer anyways." inquiry? o.O

(Of course, if people actually gave paragraph long responses to the question, there might be more to talk about, at least pertaining to said paragraph long response. So why doesn't anyone do that? Because it sounds like you're self-centered? Or because It's Just Not Done™?)

Ah, there's a delightful answer choice to the small-talk question: "Suicidal." :: snickers::

Comments

[shanrina.livejournal.com]

I have no idea since avoiding and/or screwing up small talk is my forte, but I just have to add my annoyance with people who use it instead of "Hi" when you walk past someone. As someone who doesn't (and probably can't) do small talk anyway, this just confused me for the longest time. I usually just trot out whatever I happen to be thinking at the moment, which has led to some rather bizarre conversations since no matter what I'm doing at any given moment I'm usually thinking about something else. I think long answers may just be Not Done, though.