We waste a lot of time in conversation.
Yeah - we're weird like that.
In these high speed, "broadband" times that drive our economy,our culture and our lives, it seems as if humans no longer listento each other.
Nope - we simply don't give a damn. For all intensive purposes,we are all deaf to our surroundings.
That does explain why you are reading this.
At any rate, there is a funny thing to notice about ourlanguage, or at least how we use it nowadays.
We don't.
Perhaps that is the root of a lot of our problems, too.
Think about your daily encounters with friends, family,professors and strangers. Listen in your head to what is said, whatis exchanged.
Does it really make sense?
"What's up," as previously written, has a wide variety ofmeaning, purposes and uses.
The common response, it seems these days, is now "Not much."
Not much.
What in the hell does that mean?
Undoubtedly, at least in my conversations, a follow-up questionsuch as "How have you been?" has to be used for furtherclarification.
At this point, a somewhat-clear answer ("Good, you?") is givenand conversation moves forward to something more sophisticated.
"So what is going on?"
Wow. We're quick.
That was 4.68 seconds of my life shot to the depths ofconversation hell.
Sort of like text messaging.
When you look at it, we waste a lot of time in life holding suchinutile conversation when we really could be getting to the bottomof things.
The fact of the matter is, we say a lot of things we don't mean.In the elementary book of terms: We are all big, fat, stinkingpoopy-heads.
Shame on us.
When was the last time you said "How are you?" to someone, andhonestly, completely and wholeheartedly cared what their responsewas.
I bet it's few and far between.
Proof here lies within someone saying something other than anexpected typical response.
It catches a lot of us off guard when it happens.
Have you ever heard someone respond negatively to your inquiry,only for you to habitually come back with "Good, good!"? This afterrealizing that they, indeed, said that their life was not sogood.
Embarrassing.
Yet, also true.
Now, it is hard to break habit, and "What's up" and similarterms are catch phrases that mean to us what "Heyyyyyy!" and "Dude"meant to our parents.
These phrases and are a part of our culture, our language andour generation.
Albeit, some of us would have "douche bag" slightly moreassociated with our generation than others.
At the same time, that does not mean that as people we shouldnot be consistently attempting to raise our communicationskills.
Communication can be a live-saver, but it can just as easily bea problematic device when used inefficiently.
Say what you feel, but know what you say. However, for the loveof all things real, please mean it.
Otherwise, all you are really saying has already been said.
And what's that?
Not much.
Write to Dave atheydave@bewilderedsociety.com
visit http://www.bewilderedsociety.com
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