Never mind the good, where are the smart? Not the people who know the answer to every crossword clue or the explanations of the theory of relativity. I mean smart people who use their head when in conversation with someone.
Earlier this week in class, we had some free time before a broadcast so a bunch of us sat around discussing. We were just talking about the class, reflecting on news as it showed up on the class’ TV screen, the weird tech guy, whatever the conversation evolved into. We were laughing and smiling until this one girl joined us. Man, she would even cut people off to say something stupid. For instance, some of us were talking about dance lessons when we were younger, when she chimed in with, “Yeah, and it’s like so annoying to wear dance shoes.” She had never taken dance lessons, or worn dance shoes, she later told us. She just wanted to say something, anything, for the sake of saying it.
It’s the difference between talking and speaking. Talking is the stuff that just fills the air with words, any words, because they don’t know what else to say. Those who speak actually have something of value to say, to contribute to the conversation.
I’m not teasing the people who are shy—I’m challenging the people who typically say “Yeah, true” and “Well, you know.” Those aren’t thoughts; they are just a mouth spewing word garbage. Every word should mean something, and that is my challenge today (myself included!) Haha, can you tell I’ve been in journalism school for three years?? I hope this isn’t a precursor to my becoming a cynical, lonely cigar-smoking coffee-drinking news junkie. Time will tell….