Ears Can Bleed Too, Ya Know
Back from my mini-hiatus and already I'm finding something to gripe about. Haha... so much for less bitching, eh?
Get me started, and it's usually hard to get me to shut up. While I wouldn't consider myself Mr. Bigmouth or anything, in comfortable company I am not shy (about talking or about what I talk about... it is very hard to make me uncomfortable). I'd rather have a great conversation than do just about anything else I can think of. Conversation/communication is kinda my forte... or at least I like to think it is... I could be wrong... haha.
Before I continue, let me divulge a little Phillipsian terminology. If you're talking, words are coming out of your mouth that tell a story, express an idea, or in some form or fashion make sense. If you're conversing, you're talking to someone else who is, in turn, talking back. If you're running your mouth, rambling, babbling, or yapping you are most likely talking to yourself while mistakenly assuming that others are listening. I've always known that a difference exists between conversation and yapping. But just to make it official, there is a technical difference in the two as well. As defined by the Oxford Dictonary:
Conversation: the informal exchange of ideas by spoken words
Yap: loud, irritating talk
To be clear, I'm a fan of the former. The latter is downright irritating. If nothing else, it distracts me from the conversation I'm having in my head (and no... I don't respond to myself in my head... usually).
Why are so many others confused about these two very different forms of vocalization?
I started noticing the confusion at work. People call me and, instead of getting to the point, they yammer on for what seems like hours about their life story, what they did the night before, or what they're going to do when they get home that night. I hate to be blunt (ok... I don't really hate it)... but I don't care. That sounds more harsh than it really is, I promise. If you call me at work, talk to me about work... ask me work related questions... or tell me something I need to know about work... and then get off the phone. If you want to talk about how uncomfortable your new tampons are, call your OBGYN.
But it's not just at work. I see it everywhere. I waited in line at the gas station today for ten minutes while the cashier listened to the person in front of me yap about the heat wave wreaking havoc on the midwest these days. What does that have to do with the tank of gas you just bought? The cashier was soooo obviously not interested. For one, why didn't they say something and shut the yapper up? But that point aside, why didn't the yapper pick up on the obvious disinterest displayed by the cashier?
I think some people don't pick up on the cues given by others because they're so interested in themselves that they're blinded to the idea that someone else might not be so interested. You can interrupt these people, try to walk away, or change the subject. It's all pointless. They continue to yap about nothing at all until they're forced to pause for a breath. What's even more fun is the obvious irritation they exhibit when you try and shut them up.
I'm sure you know at least one of these people. They can talk for hours and hours on end and never really say anything at all. And sometimes they really do sound like they're having a conversation with themselves. What do you do with that person? How do you escape their clutches without looking like a total ass?
Am I yapping myself at this very moment? No... you're not. Are you sure? You don't seem very interested. Who me? No... I'm listening... I promise. I can hear you through the headphones... seriously.
posted by Derick @ 7:13 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I am guilty of talking to the cashier at the grocery store but then we were having a conversation. (You shop in a place for 20 or so years and they get to know you.) The real fun is when the cashiers start complaining about the other customers.
I gripe a lot about "my" gas station... but they really do suck down there. If it wasn't so freakin' close to my apartment I would completely ignore the place. The other day a cashier threw a quarter at me. Seriously. It bounced off of me and landed on the counter.
You need to find a new gas station.
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