“Hey! What’s up?” to “What did you eat for dinner?”
If I had to summarize the graph of a relationship in one sentence, that would probably be it.
Most relationships begin on a high note, fed with a generous amount of thrill, with copious amounts of mystery thrown in. But what begins as a genuinely interesting conversation soon becomes a monotonous chat about what their favourite colour is, what perfume turns them on the most, or what they had for dinner.
The other day, I was talking to someone; let’s call him B. So, B was tall, worked for one of the best advertising agencies in the world, and from all that I could gather from my research (fine, I stalked him online), this dude seemed pretty sorted.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks later, what seemed like a great catch soon became just another failed attempt at a relationship.
Our conversations became limited to, “What’s up” and “What did you eat for dinner,” and for me, that meant it was time to say goodbye.
I am an introvert by nature and small talk is not one of my better qualities.
So, don’t just tell me about your dream car or your favourite colour.
Talk to me about what you plan to do to get that dream car.
Don’t tell me what’s on your mind ’cause even Facebook knows that.
It’s stories from the dustiest corners of your heart that I’d rather know about.
Don’t ask me about the last movie I watched, or who my favourite actor is.
Talk to me about which movie changed the way you look at life and why.
Don’t do a rapid fire with me, asking me to choose between beaches and mountains.
Talk to me about why either of them interests you and the craziest thing you’ve done there.
Don’t just show off the places you’ve traveled to.
Talk to me about the ones you haven’t, and why’d you want to go there in the first place.
Don’t tell me you can be an insecure person at times.
Tell me the incident that made you feel so.
Don’t just show off your perfections to me.
Lay bare your imperfect thoughts and we’d do just fine.
Don’t just tell me about the brands you love or the people you hate.
Talk to me about why you love or hate them.
I don’t want to know what’s the best thing about your body.
Tell me about the scar on your arm that you try to hide, and how you got it.
Don’t limit yourself to talking about what a crazy bunch of friends you have.
Talk to me about the kind of relationship you share with your parents.
I’d like to know what motivates you to get up in the morning.
But I’d be more interested in knowing what doesn’t let you sleep at night.
Don’t tell me the preface or the summary, my friend.
Because I am here wanting to read the entire book.
So, don’t tell me what you had for dinner, my lovely,
Tell me about your fears and ambitions.
