She Almost Swallowed The Whole Thing

Have you ever had a conversation where you felt like you spent the majority of your time fighting to get a word in edgewise? My guess is that more than a few people can relate to this and the frustration it causes.

A conversation isn’t supposed to be a monologue.

It is supposed to involve more than one person in the discussion but sometimes that doesn’t happen. Should you ever have the occasion to have said conversation with me please understand that if you dominate the entire thing and show no interest in my thoughts I am going to day dream about shoving something large inside your gaping maw so that I can take my turn at the jibber-jabber.

Your 187th favorite curmudgeon is tired of these battles. He is tired of feeling like the other person doesn’t care about his thoughts or opinion which is why he sometimes just ends the conversation and walks away. Or if that is not possible he gets lost in thought about shoving the aforementioned large object into the other person’s mouth.

Two Ears and One Mouth

There is a reason why we have two ears and just one mouth– it is to listen twice as much as we speak.

Ok, I am not the first person to say that nor will I be the last but it is worth remembering.  If you want to tie it into social media you can think about whether your are using the various platforms you are for engagement or for broadcast.

If all you do is broadcast you are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to meet people. If you are broadcasting for business you are really blowing an opportunity to engage with prospects and existing customers.

I have been making an effort to police my own talking habits too. There is no purpose or point in climbing up on a soapbox to complain about these things unless I hold myself to the same standards.

So I am working to be conscious of these things and to make a point to do more than ask people how they are doing. If I ask I listen to their response. It drives me crazy when people ask me how I am and then ignore my response.

If you don’t want to know than don’t ask. It is fine with me to say hi and leave it at that, but to ask and ignore is obnoxious.

I have also noticed that your 187th favorite curmudgeon is growing less interested in small talk and is often more interested in silence and referring to himself in the third person, twice removed.

Don’t bother trying to figure out what the third person twice removed is, this is what happens when I do higher math after midnight.

On a serious note, I really do dislike discussions with people in which I have to fight to get a chance to speak. It is obnoxious.

But some people are so enamored with the sound of their own voice they can’t seem to shut their mouths long enough to listen and hear what others are saying.

• Saved: People