An Honest Ramble
"The trouble with her is that
she lacks the power
of conversation but not
the power of speech."
~~George Bernard Shaw, literary critic~~
she lacks the power
of conversation but not
the power of speech."
~~George Bernard Shaw, literary critic~~
Sometimes people write or speak even when they have nothing to say. They ramble on and on and on and on without ever having said a word. Rambling is an interesting thing really. It pulls something out of those who are on the receiving end of a rant or ramble about this or that subject that we care nothing about. Thankfully, if you’re reading someone’s rambling you can always just stop reading mid-sentence. And if they ask you about what your thoughts were later on, you can make something up about how amazing or thought-provoking it was for you. Of course, one should be careful not to go overboard in their admiration, or they might find themselves on the end of a specific question about what touched them the most, exposing the nice little fib. However, finding yourself in the middle of a conversation where all you are doing is listening to someone ramble about something you could never have any interest in, or worse yet, finding yourself listening to someone ramble about something completely nonsensical is possibly the most awful situation. One has to create all sorts of creative ways to get out of these circumstances. It’s great if you’ve got a spouse, significant other, or really good friend nearby; it provides you with a natural exit. Some people even develop a system of sorts. Tapping your foot once for a ‘Get me out of here, now!’ and twice for ‘Come get me in 3 minutes and make up a fake emergency.’ But, its terrible if you’re one-on-one. People are simply too nice about it. They will sit and waste 30 minutes listening to someone talk about nothing rather than say, “Hey, this subject really doesn’t interest me all that much.” This is why people often go to movies on first dates. People are getting away from that practice now, because they feel its not conducive to conversation. I beg to differ, but that is a hairy discussion for another day. It also spills over into people saying things like ‘We should get together some time soon,’ and your being agreeable, when it is the last thing you want. But, now you’re locked in. You would have been better off saying, “No, we shouldn’t.” We all do it, of course. There are times when listening to someone ramble on about themselves or a particular subject of interest seems important--like when you’re trying to close a business deal or listening to a pastor speak about something you’ve heard him speak about before…again. We cry for honesty, but decry when people are honest. So, we pretend. We pretend to be interested. We pretend to care. Thus, we breed a civilization of people who pretend to care about other people. It stems from an unwritten ideal about fairness. You listen to me. I listen to you. The world is much larger than a stream of thought like this can make it out to be, of course, but one gets the point. There are bigger issues to worry about than getting cornered by a friend or loved one (read: family reunions, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July) you know is simply going to squander moments of your life you can never get back. But, bigger issues always start with smaller issues. Does this mean we ought to tell everyone who talks about something we don’t care about to go speak with someone who does? No. Is there sometimes a virtue in selfishness? Absolutely. Even Jesus had to get away from people every now and then. At first, equating Jesus with selfishness doesn’t exactly seem kosher, but one must imagine if He was 100% man and 100% God, both His humanity and divinity did not always feel like listening about the biggest catch the Zebedee brothers ever made for their father's fishing company or how much money Matthew used to make in his previous business venture. People ramble. That is all that has been done here. Some people stopped reading somewhere near the beginning, which is fine, honest even. Point? Sometimes we need to listen. Sometimes we need to tap our foot.
posted by C. E'Jon Moore @ 17.4.05
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