Making Small Talk Out of Nothing At All.

Sometimes I wish that meeting new people was as simple as it was back in elementary school. You walked up to someone, asked if they wanted to be friends, and boom, BFFs. Why must adulthood always complicate the simplest of things? We've all found ourselves in the same situation at one point or another in our lifetime; stuck in a social setting where you barely know anyone and are forced to make small talk in the hopes of finding something in common so that you don't appear to be as socially awkward as you feel. For some, this is a piece of cake, they thrive off of it. Me? Not so much. Small talk and I just don't get along. I always feel that it's a waste of time because, half of the time, you don't really care to hear that answer to some mundane, common question that you've asked just to not have to sit in silence. And this is never more apparent to me than at parties where the only person I know is the person that invited me. Chances are, I'm never going to see you again in my life, so not only am I not going to go digging into your soul, I'd highly doubt that there would be anyone willing the bare their soul.

Case in point: For the Fourth of July, hubs and I were invited to one of my coworker's house for a party. After much internal struggle of wanting to be lazy, I sucked it up and we went.  It was like walking into the proverbial lion's den. I, literally, knew nobody there except for my coworker. After making sure that I wasn't breaking out in hives, my hostess introduced me to the guests that were already there: her parents and a couple who were occupied with chasing after their little ones. Sidebar: I guess being 30 minutes late wasn't "fashionable" enough. So, I saddled up with the 'rents. Weather, sports, and occupations were all taken care of in less than three minutes. And then silence. Awkward silence, as I desperately racked my brain to draw something from the past three minutes to expound on. Lucky for me, I married a man who could make conversation with a rock, and he quickly jump started the conversation. Whew, crisis sweats averted. I got even luckier when the party progressed and was just about split between those with children and those without, and since everyone knew just about everyone else, I was able to let them take the lead and throw my .02 when I had something to say.

I also find it highly interesting that because I am not a good small-talker, I have surrounded myself with people who flourish with it. And it's no mystery that if you're good at the small talk, then you're pretty good conversationalist in general. Whether it be the Hubs or my friends, I am more than willing to let them take the lead in conversations and start with the small talk to get the flow towards more meaningful conversation. So, if you're a good small-talker- wanna be friends?