The kids had (separate) music/dance assemblies at school today. I would have skipped them, as always, with two littles in tow, but Alice and Robert were really hoping to see me there. Big, semi-public things like these where I'll run into tons of people I half-sorta-know...ack!
It turned out pretty well in the end. I decided to say hi to the parents I recognized and it didn't kill me. I also smiled and waved at a mom I would like to get to know better and she asked if she could sit by me. We made conversation. It was pretty darn easy this time. Know why? Because we were talking about our kids. I guess I can make small talk about my kids or another person's kids. That's easy. I am genuinely interested in that topic right now. Or maybe it's because I genuinely cared about getting to know her. Either way, I had a good time.
Interesting. Maybe that's one reason I hate small talk...I never ask about stuff I'm genuinely interested in, or I don't genuinely care about the person I'm talking to. Small talk feels like a 5-minute formality where I won't remember anything they said and I won't give them any genuine answers...because how many people really share or care about how things are actually going?
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Small talk is the introvert's kryptonite. Saps everything out of you. Unless, as you said, you are talking about something you are genuinely interested in.
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