The Townhouse complex I live in is pretty awesome, I have all the freedoms of a homeowner with none of the responsibility in terms of yard work and external upkeep. In addition to those perks, my property also came with a great family next door, I could not imagine sharing a small slab of communal cement with a better family, I have spoke with every member of their family briefly and I've got the impression that everyone thinks I am just a swell young man, everyone except of coarse Tyson, the family dog. Standing at a towering 8 inches tall, Tyson is every bit the bad ass one would expect a Yorkshire Terrier to be, he possesses the menacing bark and show quality blond coat any dog would need to startle a napping kitten.
I only speak of my pal Tyson for two reasons; ONE: I hope he somehow reads this and then subsequently stops barking at me while I'm trying to sneak obese VFW bar skeezers into my house at 2am, and TWO: I must credit him with putting my thinking gears in motion about how we interact with each other. Earlier this week I found myself in another classic showdown with Tyson, he did his usual barking and I, like any worthy adversary would, reminded him that he cannot scare me while being afraid of his own shadow at the same time, you know the usual. But this time instead of laughing and walking away, I decided to offer my hand up to him in an attempt to quell our silly rivalry, long story short he sniffed me, backed away slowly, and continued growling at me.
While I am not surprised Tyson rejected my olive branch, I am however curious as to what he could have possibly smelled that confirmed his suspicions of me? and that really got me thinking. What if we were all judged in such a simple way? what if I could tell everything I needed to know about someone within the first 30 seconds of meeting them? I'm not saying we should go around sniffing our way to friendship, but there has got to be something better than the way we are currently doing it.
This generation unlike any before it, are communicating and receiving information faster than ever imagined, and yet our most primal of medium has become an esoteric concept, how can this be? Has the influence of text messaging, Television, and the Internet officially Trickled down to how we converse? I am beginning to notice subtle hints that would suggest so.
What ever happened to eye contact; confidence, conviction, and just saying what is on your mind? We have transformed ourselves into professional self editors, truly honest thought or ideal hardly ever occurs without adjustment now, we have become so terrified of the perceptual "awkward" or unintelligent action. When meeting someone new you are more likely to catch a quick "hey" and a limp wristed wave than a firm handshake followed by eye contact and a "hello, nice to meet you" why is that? have we lost that much confidence in ourselves that we have forgotten how to simply introduce our most familiar of friends...ourselves.
Introductions are not the only area in which I take issue, I also hate how nobody ever really Say's anything, I almost envy the rapport shared by the mentally challenged, as offensive as it may seem, I would much rather have a conversation with someone that opens with: "Hi I'm Gerald, and I like Marshmallows" because at least now I actually know something about Gerald, I know he likes Marshmallows. I have spent hours talking with people and only learned about their default details. The sad part is that these people are not boring, they have just been convinced that they are somehow, so they play it safe by only talking about their work, school, or the weather. Everyone is interesting and there is no such thing as awkward, life is awkward, I consider it awkward to not embrace how imperfect and unpredictable we are. We hardly ever say the right thing at the right time and we are never really as cool as we would like each other to think we are.
So With that being said, shouldn't we approach all interaction with the understanding that every one of us are complex and social beings just waiting to be engaged. And would it kill us to greet one another in way that acknowledges these truths, perhaps Eskimo kisses?
Rabble Rabble
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