Contributed by:
Brendan Leonard
Article Contributed on: 4/26/2006 11:31:06 AM
I come from the
Midwest,
where one comes to expect general unoriginal, but sometimes clever,
banter as a daily, if not many-times-daily occurrence. Many
exchanges between familiar folks go something like these examples:
No. 1:
Bob: "Hey Jim, how's it
goin'?"
Jim: "Oh, it's goin'."
No. 2:
Bob: "Jim, how are you?"
Jim: "Doin' well, Bob, how are you?"
Bob: "I'm doin'."
No. 3:
Bob: "Sandra, how are you?"
Sandra: "I'm good, Bob."
Bob, smiling mischeviously: "Well, you look good."
Sandra, smiling: "Thanks, Bob."
No. 4:
Bob: "Jim, how's life treatin' you?"
Jim: "Like a baby treats a diaper, Jim."
When I ask someone how they're doing, the chance that they
will actually say something I've never heard before is pretty much
nonexistent. Our greeting is more of a common courtesy than
anything else. If a real conversation is to happen, it follows the
greeting, which usually never changes. When I see my neighbor
John outside on his front
steps, I say hello, and if I have time to talk, I'll ask him a
question after the greeting, and if he has time to talk, maybe
he'll ask me a question after the greeting.
Brendan: "Hey John, how's
it going?"
John: "Good. How are you?"
Brendan: "Good."
Option No. 1: I keep walking and go into my house. The
conversation ends.
Option No. 2: I ask, "How's the work on the house going?" and
we talk about that, or John asks, "Have they sold your house yet?"
and we talk about that.
But when I do hear something new, it's a watershed moment for
me. A couple Sundays ago, I was standing in the checkout line at
Wild
Oats and the man in the back of the line, who must have been
a regular there, started a conversation with the cashier. It went
like this:
Bob: "
Brian, how are you?"
Brian (cashier): "I'm good, Bob."
Bob: "Good to see you, Brian."
Brian: "Good to see you too, Bob."
Bob: "It's good to be seen."
Bob is a revolutionary in the world of everyday banter. I am
now and forever stealing his "It's good to be seen" line and using
it in my own conversations.