Relatives of mine by marriage continually speak in sentence fragments and subject matter out of chronological order. They are furious if asked to clarify their meaning, often shouting derogatory verbal abuse. They also complain that I am too aloof when I stay silent to their blather, tired of the inevitable stream of nonsense and love of conflict.
I think this is a woman thing based on observation.
When I was a child my mom and my aunts would get together and have conversations like this. If there were a way to track the conversation three-dimensionally, it would resemble a swarm of house flies, each flying in some random direction towards the edge of the swarm before abruptly changing direction by more than 90 degrees and heading back towards the center. No individual fly travels more than three inches without a course change. (AKA Evasive maneuver delta in Star Trek speak.)
Generally, there were 6 or 7 independent conversations going on at once and a speaker would switch between them every sentence or two. Amazingly, there were few “collisions.”
As my sister and my female cousins got older, they would join in. Having a Y chromosome, I was good enough to be able to keep up with the conversations but was unable to participate. It was like listening to a half dozen radio stations all jumbled up on the same frequency.
I once brought a friend who was raised in the woods in the south to my mother’s house when one of these conversations was going on with my mom, sister, cousin and my aunt.
After about an hour he said with amazement, ’It would have taken my mama and my aunts a week to have that conversation."
My wife speaks this way too. It’s a good thing I had all that training.
Possibilities the talking is to cover a relationship she has not mentioned, her plans to divorce, or avoiding a sensitive family subject with them. Lots of reasons for verbal camouflage.
We had an administrative assistant who always wanted to trade you a five-minute story for your 30-second story. Try to have different versions of your favorite stories in appropriate lengths. I know it’s a knack but losing your job for backing up traffic in the corridors is not a good alternative.
Superfrog over 2 years ago
Don’t forget the subtext.
sevaar777 over 2 years ago
Relatives of mine by marriage continually speak in sentence fragments and subject matter out of chronological order. They are furious if asked to clarify their meaning, often shouting derogatory verbal abuse. They also complain that I am too aloof when I stay silent to their blather, tired of the inevitable stream of nonsense and love of conflict.
The Reader Premium Member over 2 years ago
Apparently all you got is the epilogue.
Melki Premium Member over 2 years ago
She also has flashbacks, and a flashsideways.
dflak over 2 years ago
I think this is a woman thing based on observation.
When I was a child my mom and my aunts would get together and have conversations like this. If there were a way to track the conversation three-dimensionally, it would resemble a swarm of house flies, each flying in some random direction towards the edge of the swarm before abruptly changing direction by more than 90 degrees and heading back towards the center. No individual fly travels more than three inches without a course change. (AKA Evasive maneuver delta in Star Trek speak.)
Generally, there were 6 or 7 independent conversations going on at once and a speaker would switch between them every sentence or two. Amazingly, there were few “collisions.”
As my sister and my female cousins got older, they would join in. Having a Y chromosome, I was good enough to be able to keep up with the conversations but was unable to participate. It was like listening to a half dozen radio stations all jumbled up on the same frequency.
I once brought a friend who was raised in the woods in the south to my mother’s house when one of these conversations was going on with my mom, sister, cousin and my aunt.
After about an hour he said with amazement, ’It would have taken my mama and my aunts a week to have that conversation."
My wife speaks this way too. It’s a good thing I had all that training.
sandpiper over 2 years ago
Possibilities the talking is to cover a relationship she has not mentioned, her plans to divorce, or avoiding a sensitive family subject with them. Lots of reasons for verbal camouflage.
MuddyUSA Premium Member over 2 years ago
She weaves her stories covering every angle?
mistercatworks over 2 years ago
We had an administrative assistant who always wanted to trade you a five-minute story for your 30-second story. Try to have different versions of your favorite stories in appropriate lengths. I know it’s a knack but losing your job for backing up traffic in the corridors is not a good alternative.
Zen-of-Zinfandel over 2 years ago
And with plenty of upward inflection.
sandflea over 2 years ago
She must be related to Kellyanne.