The lost art of conversation

I read a blog post the other day that reminded me of one of my pet peeves.

Basically she was saying she went to a wedding and met two different people, both of which spoke with her for 30 minutes each, answered all her questions but didn't bother to ask her even one question about her own life.

I so get her frustration.

D and I often say that conversation is a lost art these days.

People don't seem to know how to engage back and forth and take an interest in the other person.

This really is one of my pet peeves.

The Zulu people have it right, not that I know Zulu but I studied very basic greetings and a few sentences a few years ago.

One person greets, the other replies, the first one adds something else, the other replies, and then they get on with the conversation. But the first four bits have a rhythm to it that starts off a lovely conversation.

I don't know if I'm getting more attuned to it, being a pet peeve, or that it really is getting worse.

Maybe it's the social media space where everyone just broadcasts their tweets or status updates whether anyone's listening or not? :)

I don't know.

So in the interest of conversation, tell me, have you also found this to be true?

What are some of your pet peeves? (Another one of mine is incorrect use of the apostrophe!)

Monday night gumbo

Today was a write-off at work. Too many meetings (4). My comfort level is 3 so I have time to action things too. I also left early because V sent a text to say Kendra's temperature was back up to 38. Guess tomorrow I'll have to pull out all stops and get my stuff done.

Despite all this, I am proud because I forced myself to go to gym. Amazing what competition will do. There are 5 - 6 of us all on a quest to lose weight so every Monday morning we weigh in. So far I've lost nothing - I gained, stayed the same and then lost the 0.5 kg so am right back where I started. The front runner has already lost 2 kg in the 3 weeks!

Kendra's temperature was coming down so nicely today and then again, up to 38. She is a lot more herself though. Doing her little Kendra things (i.e. being cute and talking lots). We've now woken up 2 nights in a row at 2:30 to give her a suppository and tonight will be night 3. Funny how it's not a big deal to get up in the middle of the night...

Since I was basically housebound this weekend caring for Kendra, I decided to "make myself useful" and cooked up a storm on Sunday (7 meals for us {14 portions} and 4 meals for the babies {8 portions}. I also totally decluttered my bedroom and as I wear things that look horrible, I will be throwing some more out. Tomorrow my gardener will be sporting a genuine South African soccer shirt and cap as I've decided that the horrible mustard yellow is just not a good colour on me and why hang onto things just because they cost a lot of money?

I am thinking of starting yet another blog because I figure, surely these things happen to me for a reason? Let me give you a quick example. Logged a call with my ISP on 25 Aug at 11:31. No response despite then going onto their website about a week later to complain until today. Again, no one qualified called me. I am so tired of this rubbish and I am starting to believe that it is my 3rd mission in life to educate people about treating customers properly. I told another company last week, "if I treated my customers the way you've been treating me, I would have been fired." Enough said.

But how are YOU doing? Is it just around these parts or is everyone verrrrrry, verrrrry quiet?