Tuesday, December 14, 2004
A little less conversation….
Conversation for the sake of conversation is a waste of breath and very annoying. We live in a society that is much too polite not to allow for “conversation”. But is anybody really listening? Does anybody actually wait for the answer to the question, "How are you"? Throughout the course of every single workday I run into situations where “conversation” is forced upon me. Can’t we just go about our corporate duties without the need to express pleasantries?
Almost every time that I step onto an elevator, no matter what the reason for my trip, I hear the obligatory “how’s it going”? How’s what going? And further more, do you really care or are you just afraid of “uncomfortable silence”? This is especially annoying with what will be referred to as “work associates”. The people you deal with on a regular basis, but have no vested interest in. If one day, they just stopped coming to work, it would not affect you from a personal perspective, other than possibly doubling your workload.
This need to speak to others goes far beyond annoyance when it comes from someone in the building in which you work that you have absolutely no point of reference for, but they feel the need to ask you what could be considered personal questions. I don’t typically conversate with strangers out on the boulevard, why should my thought process change just because we’re riding the same elevator? Is an extra 45 seconds of chit chat really that important to you? Will you not be able to survive in a bubble of silence for the 2-story trip up the elevator?
And as that unknown person you just explained your morning to is exiting said elevator, they’re parting words are almost always “have a good one”. A good what? A good ride in the elevator? A good trip to the restroom to heed the call of Mother Nature?
Walk in silence and speak only when necessary, not when societal pressures make you feel the overwhelming need to open up your pie hole and spew forth meaningless ramblings about the sun shining or how cold it is. We were all outside at one time today, we know that it’s freakin’ cold. Don’t need to be reminded about this fact by someone that feels the need to share every thought with every stranger just because they are all enclosed in the same box being lifted up two stories of a corporate work environment.
¶ 3:00 PM
Almost every time that I step onto an elevator, no matter what the reason for my trip, I hear the obligatory “how’s it going”? How’s what going? And further more, do you really care or are you just afraid of “uncomfortable silence”? This is especially annoying with what will be referred to as “work associates”. The people you deal with on a regular basis, but have no vested interest in. If one day, they just stopped coming to work, it would not affect you from a personal perspective, other than possibly doubling your workload.
This need to speak to others goes far beyond annoyance when it comes from someone in the building in which you work that you have absolutely no point of reference for, but they feel the need to ask you what could be considered personal questions. I don’t typically conversate with strangers out on the boulevard, why should my thought process change just because we’re riding the same elevator? Is an extra 45 seconds of chit chat really that important to you? Will you not be able to survive in a bubble of silence for the 2-story trip up the elevator?
And as that unknown person you just explained your morning to is exiting said elevator, they’re parting words are almost always “have a good one”. A good what? A good ride in the elevator? A good trip to the restroom to heed the call of Mother Nature?
Walk in silence and speak only when necessary, not when societal pressures make you feel the overwhelming need to open up your pie hole and spew forth meaningless ramblings about the sun shining or how cold it is. We were all outside at one time today, we know that it’s freakin’ cold. Don’t need to be reminded about this fact by someone that feels the need to share every thought with every stranger just because they are all enclosed in the same box being lifted up two stories of a corporate work environment.
¶ 3:00 PM
