Have you ever noticed how easy it is to talk about other people? It happens all the time. Say you want to go get lunch with somebody, what always ends up happening? The conversation turns to a person who is not at the table doesn’t it?
Now I am not saying this is always a bad thing. Sometimes people talk about others in the most positive ways possible such as, “Did you hear that Sally got a full scholarship to UCLA?” That isn’t bad at all right? Where I find the problem is that humans are so great at talking about others but we are not very good at talking TO others.
It is so much easier to bring up things about people that you are impressed with to someone else than to the person you are impressed with. I have found myself time and time again telling somebody how awesome one of my teammates has been playing but I never seem to tell my teammate I am impressed with them to their face. It is even easier to write to them about it or send a text. How come it is so hard to confront a person on even the most positive subjects? I think this topic is one of the main reasons as to why I can be so bitter about technology. Face to face communication seems to be disappearing.
Man I always feel like I am rambling. Thanks for sticking with me J
I have been thinking about the last few times I went to lunch. You are right. It does happen. Every time I get together with work friends it seems all we can talk about is other people or complain about work. I have been making it a point to not partake in those work conversations lately. Its better not to get caught up in the bad vibes.
ReplyDeleteYou will find that as you get older this problem gets smaller. You learn that sometimes you just need to tell it how it is and sometimes you need to keep your mouth shut. You also learn who you can talk freely with and who you cannot. We will never be able to fully get away from talking about others, but you will learn how to manage your own conversations so that you don't hurt others.
ReplyDelete