guy in an elevator small talk

Mew~

THE HOST IS BROKEN
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    • Seen Apr 13, 2016
    I know many people often find themselves in a conversation using small talk. How often do you find yourself in phatic communication? For example, the weather topic, "how are you?", "looking forward to the weekend?" n' all that jazz.

    I don't really tend to like small talk with people I know well or have talked to quite a while. I don't mind online if someone starts to talk to me with small talk, because most of the time it can lead to a certain topic of conversation, most of my conversations end up like this;
    "hello how are you"
    "fine thanks, you?"
    "good."
     
    I don't often engage in small talk, but when I do, it's pretty awkward. Most of the time though, we'll both realize it's awkward and have a laugh about it.

    Usually it's the standard "how are you", but the other day, I was with this guy I barely knew in the elevator, and he initiated with "So, heard about Kim Jong Il?" Not your typical conversation starter, but ok.
     
    That pointless kind of conversation (which I never start) has the tendency to be over after 10 seconds. What follows is a long, awkward silence. I hate being asked these kind of questions.
     
    I am the worst at small talk. If someone tries to initiate it with me, I usually only respond with a small laugh or something like "oh, yeah!" "totally," because I'm not creative enough to come up with a real response, haha. My small talk comes out just as awkwardly and it's usually about the weather, lol. And then comes that long, awkward silence where neither me nor the other person knows quite what to say anymore so we just avoid eye contact for a little while. A+ social situations right there.
     
    If it's awkward, like in a elevator alone with somebody or something, I talk to them. Not necessarily "How are you?", but something relating to the situation. For example: the weather.
     
    I'm always in those. It's normally how I start a conversation, before it transitions to some other, more interesting topic.
     
    I don't talk to people in lifts. It's one of my few cast-iron rules with regards to life. Even if other people start talking to me, I just end up ignoring them and they soon shut up. I just can't stand it. Small talk outside of lifts I can do, but I try and avoid it wherever possible. It's only if I know nothing about the person I'm conversing with do I revert to weather topics or things in the news or whatever.
     
    [SIZE="a"]Small talk with just anyone is kind of awkward. I'm too introverted to do that kind of thing. And with people I know it can be irritating if their are more pressing things or i really don't care what they have to say. I tend to have more practical/intellectual conversations.[/SIZE]
     
    I hate starting small talk, but it happens. .___.
    Usually there's an awkward silence for about 10-15 minutes, then I find something interesting to say. (This is online.)
     
    I work in retail so my job is essentially all about small talk. Therefore after nearly three years of honing my skills I have pretty much become an ace pro at it. I suppose what helps in my case though, is that my customers are drinkers, which means when I ask them how they are, the answer is rarely "good". Most of them are having a bad day which is leading them to the drink, so they feel the need to tell me all about it while I process their transaction lol
     
    I'm never one to initiate small talk, essentially because it's annoying and usually within ten seconds the room is 38% more awkward than it was before the small talk started. Sooner or later though, when I start my job in a couple of weeks, I'm going to have to interact with customers and employees below me and what not. So I won't be necessarily doing small talk, but I'll definitely have to have proper conversations with people I don't know very well or at all.
    #workinggirlproblems
     
    I don't really get into serious conversations with everyone, but I do make small talk in school with my classmates every now and then.
     
    i never really engage in "small talk." i'm the type of person who doesn't start a conversation when i don't want to talk. when i do want to talk, however, that wouldn't really make the conversation "small talk" now, would it?
     
    I'm horrible at small talk. I either get bored quickly, or go into social-anxiety mode and clam up. A very common scenario for me is this:
    Person: "So how're you doing?"
    Me: "Good, you?"
    Person: "Good."
    Me: "Mm."
    Silence....

    And that's when I know the person. When it's someone I don't know (say, someone I met in an elevator), it's all single-syllables with a tone that makes it incredibly obvious that I'm uncomfortable.
    Stranger(-danger): "So how're you doing?"
    Me: "...good..."
    Stranger: "Pardon?"
    Me: "Good."

    If they keep trying to talk to me, then I develop a horrible stutter. It's embarrassing.
     
    I'm really bad with small talk with people I don't know. Not out of a lack of things to say, because online I have been known to develop conversations like that, but rather because I'm not good at interacting socially, and I don't know what to say back in real life, and even if I did come up with something, I would probably just stammer it out or mumble it. I probably come off as rude because my response to "how are you" is always "um good how are you?" in a mumbled, slurred speech. I don't typically like someone asking me "how are you" unless it's someone I'm at least semi close to, since I'm not going to tell a stranger an honest answer if I'm not feeling well.
    I don't like talking in elevators. I think they should be silent places.
     
    I never initiate baseless conversation and partake in it no more than is necessary not to offend, despite being rather chagrined myself that I am conventionally expected to respond.
     
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