I communicate with people all day. I compose and reply to emails. I chat via Facebook. I send text messages. I send inmail via LinkedIn. Hell, I even Tweet occasionally.
But, I rarely have conversations. Deep and meaty conversations.
I communicate with people all day. I compose and reply to emails. I chat via Facebook. I send text messages. I send inmail via LinkedIn. Hell, I even Tweet occasionally.
But, I rarely have conversations. Deep and meaty conversations.
Recently, my family and I were visiting my mother for the weekend. Other family members came over to visit and to chat. It was all very pleasant. During one such conversation that included my cousins, BR and HR, I was a non-participant. It wasn’t by choice. I didn’t want to be muted, silenced. Unfortunately, I was like an actor without any lines – I simply had nothing to say.
The topic of the conversation: television.
As I’ve mentioned before I am a regular, well semi regular, watcher of Modern Family. I also watch sports – other than the World Cup. I don’t care about the World Cup. I also watch news programs. However, in reality, I am a consistent watcher of nothing.
Anyway, as my cousins and others were going on about shows they liked and watched regularly, I sat there dumbly smiling and nodding occasionally trying to be social (that in and of itself can be a challenge for me). Terms were going back and forth which I had never heard. BR said she could watch HGTV all day. Huh?
During the conversation, my cousin, BR, turned to me and casually said, “You really need to watch some television. I know you’re busy. We’re all busy. Just find some time to sit down and watch television.” I muttered meekly, still smiling though, “Well, uh okay.” What was I to say?