Know When To Hold’em
I have a very complex job. Not complex in that only a select few could do it, but more like in the way a recipe is complex. Comprised of many ingredients and specific ways to handle them in order to make the dish come out right. There are cramped living quarters and the tolerance required to live with people having such different personalities is a big challenge. We go from dead asleep to 80mph screaming down the highway with lights and sirens, on your way to god knows what. Or maybe we are just taking an old ladies blood pressure and having one of the only conversations she will have with anyone all week. We sweep and mop and scrub and dust and cook and wash and shammy and come back in 3 days and do it all over again. Everyones different ways of handling these situations and tasks are interesting to watch and can often be analyzed to discover things about human nature and my own nature. But one of my favorite things to sit back and observe is conversation. It is, however a specific kind of conversation that is most Intresting to me. Often comprised of no more then 3 people and is by invitation only, which means if I want to observe I have to be an active participant. It is usually held outside (regardless of the weather) and is accompanied by some form of stimulant ending in -eine. (caffeine or the other kind of -eine we won’t mention for fear of glamorizing it to all the little kids who read this blog) These dialogs are political in nature (local government and fire dept politics, not federal government) and when observed from the outside look akin to dramatized historical accounts of the patriots discussing the revolution in a dark pub corner. This is never more so then when the parties involved are from two different shifts. Each shift has it’s own way of looking at things and bringing someone from another shift into the discussion is usually done to get a feel for how that shift as a whole will side on a certain topic. Key phrases like “it’s going to be interesting” replace personal opinions. This phrase “It’s going to be interesting” is repeated over and over, where as when observing from the outside it would almost become comical like the punch line in a Saturday Night Live skit. Ideas and viewpoints are closely guarded and only offered when asked, with great care given to the choice of words so as not to show too much passion for the subject. It is very much like a game of poker. Everyone is keeping their cards real close, looking for the the other guys signature “tell”, feeling out the table and trying to decide if you have a good enough hand to play. The colloquies can last hours or minutes depending on the subject and who tries to join in. However they almost always end the same way, “It’s going to be interesting”.
Am I the only one who analyzes things like this. If you do it too, tell me something you’ve noticed and dissected in the comments.
Dude I have noticed that a lot. People say strange phrases like “you’re kidding” or “it’s going to be interesting” or “so” or whatever. People are so uncomfortable with silence. They will say inane phrases to avoid it.
I agree with Emily to the point that they are uncomfortable with silence. But I also think people do not like to be wrong and it is easier to agreee than to disagree. GOOD POST