When I last visited my local area Eyeglass World, I told them I was ok with my contact prescription, and then the nice young lady took me to a workstation and began typing things into the computer. I said nothing, like I normally do, and she said, "you sure are quiet".
"I get that a lot."
"..."
"..."
"So what do you do?"
"I'm a computer programmer... actually I write things that look alot like what you're using right now."
"That makes sense then. You talk to the computer all day."
"..."
"I hate this computer"
"It looks pretty involved."
"Everything takes forever."
"Yeah."
I've recently tried to exercise restraint in leaving comments on livejournals and blogs, or posting on messageboards. Part of it is "if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything" and part of it is the idea that I feel like there's grace in restraint*.
After my conversation (or lack thereof) with the gal at Eyeglass World I got the idea in my head that I would come up with a better excuse for not talking. Options I've considered:
"I've taken a vow of minimalism. I'm only allowed 200 words a day. I'm at 143."
"I'm studying to be a monk."
"Mmmmmmpph."
I admit, they're all a little ridiculous, and perhaps even assholian (should be a word if it isn't).
So why is it that I don't talk to people? I don't have much to say, I guess. Or perhaps it's a risk/reward thing? The rattles in my head are so foreign that I'm just as likely to confuse as to enlighten.
If thrown into a situation where speaking is absolutely required, I tend to do ok. If you add any amount of alcohol to the mix, I'd venture to say I can be almost entertaining (I'd love to say the word is "charming", but that may be a stretch). If it's a social situation involving something I have above average knowledge of, there's a good chance I might not shut up at all (overcompensation).
But in general, I'm just a quiet guy. Happily. I think.
* * * * *
*I don't know where this theory came from; I'd probably be considered agnostic.
4 comments:
I feel compelled to leave a comment on this post. You say that you are exercising restraint by not posting comments to people. Your new practice of doing this leaves me only more intrigued by what "not nice" things you have to say. I don't think that you need to give excuses for not speaking though. That's just too considerate. I think you should make people work for your words.
All that said, feel free to delete my post. I meant for this to be clever, but I think I failed. :P
hmm.
just kidding. i have plenty of not nice things to say, but in most cases they're just an opinion, and it's not really necessary that I voice them. there's no reason to go out of your way to be negative. it's something i'm trying to work on.
Gina would say I still need a lot of work.
I'm sure you're fine.. It's probably right to not go out of your way to be negative, but I think you're entertaining, so be "negative" all you want.
When is your marathon ride? (I hope I didn't miss it.)
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