A number of times recently I've had people tell me stories involving topics or plot points that I don't understand, and that they know I don't understand. To use fake examples, they might be telling me about their ultrasound when they know I've never been pregnant, or they might be telling me a story about a family thing where I don't know the names of the family members.
So I ask the questions I need to follow the plot of the story. E.g., "So why do you have to drink all this water?" or "Wait, is Bob the ex-husband?" And then my interlocutor seems to get pissed or frustrated at me for not knowing this stuff. In life in general I seem to learn things quickly enough so I don't think I'm just generally stupid. (Of course, if I were generally stupid I wouldn't notice, would I?) This frustration seems to happen only when people are telling me stories where I don't know the subject matter, and it seems only when they know that I'm not familiar with the subject matter. When they don't know about my ignorance going in and then I confess it, I seem to do fine.
So should I be just smiling and nodding in these cases even though I'm not following the story at all?
1 comment:
I think they are rude or insensitive, or maybe just stupid? I don't know what you should do. Talk to them less, maybe.
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