1jul2024: I have more to say about small talk. people who say they don’t like it, seem to misunderstand it…

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“What are you supposed to say if someone asks what’s new with you?” (original thread)

This might seem odd but it totally works: say “let me check”, then open up your phone browser and look for the last thing you can talk about, and then talk about that. For example, here’s one of mine: “oh I was reading about the history of fashion in SG recently…”

you could also open your photo gallery for some prompts for you to free associate around. from my recent pics…

– i’ve been trying to get into tiktok lately
– thinkin’ bout despair and hubris
– sleeping weird hours working on my book
– replayed mass effect trilogy last month

Someone asked, “what do I do if my browser is full of porn?” and I suggested, just say “i’ve been really getting into pornography lately. have you heard about this? naked people on the internet”. The idea here is that it doesn’t actually really matter what you say. “How’s it going” is an invitation to freestyle a little bit, the content is not very relevant.