SMALL TALK, LESSON ONE

This is the first of what should be many installments summarizing my small talk project. You see, I’m a responder rather than an initiator. Most of the time this works out fairly well, but when it comes to greeting new people it has been a problem. So, part of my learning contract for my internship is to practice small talk. For you talkers out there, you’re probably thinking, “What’s the big deal?” I know, it’s odd, but frankly it’s very near to sheer terror.

So this morning on the train there was a young man in a FedEx uniform, carrying a large box, and reading a book on Mesoamerican art. He dropped something on the floor, and that opened up a small talk possibility. He mentioned that he would like to go back to school one day to finish his degree, possibly in aircraft maintenance. We chatted about the possibilities of adult degree programs. I must admit, he asked more questions than I did—that was not my aim, but I am in the beginning stages of learning. Even though the conversation was 40% him and 60% me, that in itself is a vast improvement. In addition, I was able to “debrief” with myself after and realize some of the opportunities I had missed to probe further: his job maintaining aircraft at FedEx, the book he was reading, his desire to go to school, the big box, etc. So, progress made, more progress ahead…