What’s worse?
A person who talks too much with no chance of reciprocation, or the most boring person on the planet that doesn’t realize he is and yaps all day and night about everything and anything that rates lower than irrelevant and eventually does include you but you have nothing to give.
I have a great skill that I inherited from Allen (dad) in that I can appear engaged in a conversation with someone while simultaneously constructing a grocery list without them ever even catching on. I used to try to pivot them off their one lane highway and get some ebb and flow going, but it’s just too much. My advice is don’t even bother. They’re just that self absorbed that they think their every fleeting thought is a requiem for the modern man.
Then there’s a whole other group that’s perhaps even more annoying: the people that jump into a conversation (almost always cutting me off) to start a rant about something completely unrelated. I think it’s why I used to love visiting my dad once he was in full blown Alzheimer’s. When he was determined to lock into a specific period of time, he’d flood you with the most spontaneous and funny stories. Oh Allen. You shoulda done stand-up. Always quick on your feet and always sizing up the audience and making split second changes in tonality and presentation. But he had to do a little listening to get the info he’d need, so he’d give them a few minutes to “get to the point” but when it became apparent that they didn’t have one strong enough to substantiate the fifteen minute preview, he’d take over.
I don’t know if conversation is still an art but if it is, that art is being fazed out by social media and the “get it now” expectation the younger generations have. Hell, I have those expectations too. Get to it. think most of us just have no patience left for small talk. The fancy term for small talk is cocktail party conversation, which is only as interesting as your blood alcohol level is.
I don’t know where I learned this but if a conversation leads to a discussion about weather, it’s official you have nothing in common with this person. So be on the lookout for these shallow ghetto blasting mouths. They thrive in all climates and seasons. Here’s a scene out of the unbelievably brilliant series Six Feet Under.