Small Talk in What's Happening

I swear my communication skills range from top ranking salesman to borderline autistic sometimes.

I’m outside blowing the leaves and I see my neighbor come out. I wanted to compliment his new siding. I think I went about it the wrong way because I kept telling him how much I didn’t like his old siding. What I really meant was: I didn’t like that his old siding was made out of wood; the kind you would build a shed out of. I wasn’t commenting so much on the aesthetics of it.

The conversation didn’t go too-too bad, I did genuinely compliment how nice the new siding was. It’s just that when I got back to working on my lawn I realized that I might have sounded like a douche a little bit while doing it.

Maybe I should just own my doucheness; stop trying to run from it. It’s just that I was always under the impression that one of the key attributes to being a douche was not being self-aware enough to recognize that you’re a douche. Do proper douchebags reflect on their douche-moves later in the day?

Besides that minor debacle I’m off to a productive Saturday. I started the morning on top of my roof blowing the leaves out of the gutter and trimming branches. This tasks makes for good “guy-talk” during Monday morning work banter. Once you get to a certain age, small talk at work turns into more of a recital than an actual conversation.

I have a nice seasonal scented candle burning in the house and some food in the Crock Pot. It’s making for a very charming atmosphere.

I’m going to try and embrace the holiday spirit this year. I say that every year, but I think I’m really going to do it this year.

Last updated November 23, 2019