Mmm, small talk! 🙊

There's a thing at work where people say "How was your weekend?" There are two possibilities.

I did nothing interesting, so I feel like I have to apologise for having nothing to say.

I did something, but I feel like I have avoid saying too much because then I'm breaking the rules of small talk by being naturally enthusiastic instead of formulaic.

In fact there's a third option: LIE.

Them:

> "How was your weekend?"

[Translation: I don't actually care what you did. I'm just being 'polite'.]

Me:

> "OK, thanks. How was yours?"

[Translation: I know how to play this game.]

Them:

> "OK, thanks."

[Translation: You passed the test. Thank heaven we didn't have to talk about anything real.]

There is a thing where the correct answer to "How do you do?" is to ignore the apparent question, and just reply "How do you do?" Does that seem odd? Well, it is, but it's something I can get behind. There's a set phrase that we can use and all it means is "I politely acknowledge you". There's no information exchange involved, so we shouldn't pretend there is. After "exchange of pleasantries" there's still the option to have actual conversation.

#SmallTalk

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