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What's new
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Jul 5, 2006
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My vote for the worst question ever: "What's new?" How am I supposed to answer that question? Do people really want to know the answer? If so, how long of an answer do they want? Five minutes? Five seconds? How specific should I be? If I bought something used, does it count as being new? Doesn't it depend on how long it's been since I've seen the person? If I haven't seen the person in 10 years, where the heck should I start? How inclusive should I be? Should I mention the new white undershirts I just got from Walmart? Or is that not important enough? Should I say that I got my car washed the other day? Technically, it's new ... in a sense. Should I talk about the new emails I got today? They're new. Does that count? Or should I look at the really big picture and say something along the lines of, "My interest in theoretical physics has subsided mildly as a result of my new-found love for conveyor-based plane takeoffs"?
I guess I understand the point of the question: "How do I get this socially inept introvert to tell me something interesting about his life?" But I'm so unsure of how to answer it that I almost always just end up saying, "Not much." #psychology
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| Linked: Uninteresting, Canned response |
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