snip, snip

Ever have almost nothing to say to someone while you are obligated to sit next to them for 10-20 minutes? That is how I sometimes feel in a waiting room, or the dentist, or the barber. Today it was the barber.

What seems to happen is that he tries to start a conversation to make the time go, but the questions rarely branch into a lengthy discussion.

"What are you doing this weekend?"

"Nothing much other than some errands. You?"

"Not much either. Have any plans this summer?"

"Not really. We'll see my wife's family some on weekends. How about this weather."

"How about it."

(Silence after this point.)

Of course the conversation above is a dramatization, but it is a pretty good representation of how bad I am at making small talk with someone who I don't know entirely well.

The one thing that did come out of talking to my barber today, though, was that he asked whether I had mowed my lawn yet. I hadn't. Was it really time already to mow the lawn? My wife hadn't said anything about the lawn, but she only mentions it when it looks really bad. Needless to say, I told him I hadn't gotten to it yet, then I mowed it this afternoon to reassure my manhood. That'll show him!