Saturday, March 21, 2009

Get to the friggin point already!



Are you one of those people that takes 30 minutes to tell a story? Or can you get directly to the end?

I think I inherited the "mind wandering story telling" gene from my dad.
I will start telling a story, then pretty soon, I am so far away from the point, I forgot what the point was when I started the conversation. For instance, I will do much like my dad does because he once told me that when he was a kid... oh crap see there I go .. So I will start a funny story about going to the bank yesterday.. or was it Tuesday... wait Tuesday i didn't go to the bank.. OK it was yesterday. So I tell them that I had to deposit money.. then I have to back track to a year or 2 ago to tell them how I acquired the money and why it took so long to get that money, and what happened over the last two years (totally unrelated as to how I got the money) .. by the time make it back to the present time and back to the original point.. I will often end my story with.. "crap.. now I forgot the whole point" Then my friends are pissed because they just realized I wasted the last 30 minutes of their lives.

OR

Are you one of those people that think a timeline really matters to people when you tell them about something or do you just get to the story so as not to drive your friends crazy while you try to figure out when the event happened?

Here's what I mean:

Something happens to you that you want to share with your friends. You start to tell them, only you can't remember exact day or year it occurred. You start your story like this:

"OMG.. so Tuesday.. or was it Monday.. let's see.. Sunday I was at Starbucks..so it couldn't have been there .. where was I Monday??? OH it was Monday not Tuesday so on Monday...blah blah blah..
or "when my daughter was 6 or wait maybe was she 5??..


Do you think your friends (who were not with you and can not go back in time to validate the actual day of the event) care about what day it happened? Don't you think they are more interested in WHAT happened..not WHEN?


I think we all do it and don't realize it. But now that I have realized it, I just say "the other day, or yesterday, or last year" I think that everyone is a lot happier.

18 comments:

SkylersDad said...

Do what I do - just preface every story with "I'm senile, so ignore any lack of details".

Then just jump into the middle of the story!

Kim said...

I do a little bit of it all. Then I say, "oh shit, who really cares."

ReformingGeek said...

I'm not a very good storyteller so I usually try to get it out as past as possible. I can't stand it when people pause mid-story and start going uh....., uh....., or are just quiet. Very annoying.

I've also realized that some people just like to hear themselves talk.

Unknown said...

Chris: I might have to try that.. it sounds very effective. Thanks for the tip

Jo: Usually, I jump around so much.. I have to start over


RG I also fall into your 2nd category! LOL

Ann Imig said...

I often just plain forget what the hell I was even thinking about.

Unknown said...

THAT'S Pretty bad Ann!

Anonymous said...

ooosh, my mom is the worst at that. And then I aggravate it because I get bored with the story and jump in with tangential things that are more interesting. . .but that only prolongs the pain. Haha.

Unknown said...

Shawn I feel for ya! You think you're helping.. but notsomuch. I find standing by my open car with the motor running and pretending to get a call on my -on vibrate- cell phone helps speed things up too

sometimes

Beth said...

My sister talks in circles with a lot of pauses. We used to tell her to land the plane, land the plane.

Must have come up with that saying while watching Fantasy Island. Which reminds me of...

Uh oh. I may do that same thing, too.

Unknown said...

LMAO Beth.. yep I am afraid you are afflicted as well.. theres no hope either.

bernthis said...

Oh God, Oh God, my mother and sister take FOREVER. I did stand up comedy for 9years and trust me, you better get to the funny part fast or it's all over baby

Unknown said...

bern.. That's awesome.. I didn't know that about you. I love stand-up comedians. Thanks for stopping by ;)

Me-Me King said...

They go on and on and on...until my eyes begin to glaze over, my A.D.D. kicks in and I begin making a grocery list in my head. Then I'm asked the question of all questions, "Are you listening to me?"

Unknown said...

lol Me-me.. then you get.."huh? yes I was listening!" I know it oh so well

AD said...

You got that right.
:)

Bee (the one who muses) said...

In real life, I’m always too vague. Here’s an example:


“The other day I was at that store and bought this stuff and then I smacked her.”

Unknown said...

You are my husbands long lost sister. You have to be because you just wrote a post about him.

Unknown said...

Bee: Are you sure you're not a stand-up comedian?

Etta: Yes I am.. he, in fact was the inspiration for this post

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